We had an okay monsoon (not as much rain as some seasons), but just seeing the huge, looming clouds this summer was a daily delight. And I found these tiiiinnnnnyyyy mushrooms on Mt. Lemmon last week, which my brother said not to eat because they're poisonous.
I love that he knows these things :)
Picture 3 is a little patch of clovers that I found when hiking...so cute! Go ND!
I've been discovering tons of great music from a website called NoiseTrade. They have artists put up specific albums, and then let you download said albums for free - YES FREE.
Artists like The Civil Wars, Alexi Murdoch, and Page CXVI (who I mentioned earlier on the blog) are just a few of the artists that I've been able to dwell in this summer because of this website.
Thanks NoiseTrade!
But just for a memorial to music of this past summer, here were some favorites (that may or may not have come out in the summer):
The Decemberists, Don't Carry it All
[Though this NPR video makes it seem very acoustic, the album is actually much more rock-eque - very nice]
Juanes, Tr3s Presents Juanes MTV Unplugged
[this is EPIC]
Judah & the Lion, First Fruits
[A band I found when a friend and I were hunting for worship music that doesn't musically suck. Their song "Life Up My Soul" is actually my favorite, but it's not on YouTube, so you guys get this taste!]
One of the best things of the summer was getting to spend time hanging with dear friends who I see less when I'm working - like this girl! My "niece" (we're not actually related) is getting to babbling stage, and it was a delight to soak in it this summer with her parents.
Love you guys!
Her mom and I let her try some of the foam from my latte - just from this face you can tell she thought we were crazy for liking it :)
Summer is almost over! :( So I'm going to be posting a few things that I loved doing this summer, things that particularly made the summer of 2012 a blast. Starting with this pic! I took it last night at the park where I ran into 3 of my students, and only 1 pretended like they didn't know me :) Gorgeous clouds and sunsets - definitely a plus for Summer de'12!
I've been totally rocking this album by a band called Page CXVI that I got for free. They take hymns and redux them, which we often do at my church, so it's been awesome to listen to their renditions. They also sing through some hymns I've never heard, having grown up Catholic.
I really like this one, which is near and dear to my heart - and don't you just love how she rocks out when she plays!?! And gotta love the slide guitar! Mmm mmm...
Below is the song I've actually been practicing and belting at the top of my lungs. :) It's such a BEAUTIFUL hymn, and I really like the funky background drums...sounds so awesome! They don't have a video for it, so excuse the cheesy Youtube lyrics video (I tend to hate those), but you can still hear it, which is totally worth it.
The same one my dog and I normally run in the dry sand in...how thrilling, huh?! We've had tons of rain here in Tucson, and I'm loving it! Hopefully it keeps it up tomorrow for church (which is cooled by swamp coolers...booo humidity!)
We had an awesome series of storms go through the Tucson basin on the 4th of July. All through the night, we had rain. Woke up to it, then it stopped mid-morning while I got coffee with a friend, and as I drove home I could see it in the distance...loooooming.
I must find it!
So I drove speedily home, changed, grabbed the dog, and we were off! We went out to Tucson Mountain Park, because I know the area and there aren't really any low spots (both necessary to be wise with potential flash flooding). It was GORGEOUS. Took these shots either in the wash in the morning or driving into the park. I didn't bring my phone on the trail for fear it would get soaked.
I'm glad I proved to be right! :D
Here's the radar from the area - the big orange-red dot was about to hit where I was. Oh joy that was mine. The dog has never been so clean :)
I found a recipe for tres leches cake (a Mexican cake I've wanted to learn how to make) on this Irish food blog I follow (of all places, I know right?). Erin and I embarked on the adventure of making it on one of those lovely rainy days - so great!
However, pay careful attention to the metric/imperial measurements...when it says 200c/400f, pick 400! Here in America we use Fahrenheit, and if you put your oven on 200 it will just stay wiggly and then get a little more like shortcake than fluffy angel-food-cake-esque. Oops.
But it turned out ok. I'm just curious what the real texture would be like!
If you've never heard of it, you make a cake, poke LOTS of holes in it, and then pour a combo of 3 milks (hence tres (3) leches (milks)) and then some INTO the cake. When you pour the milks while it's still hot, it soaks the liquid up like a sponge and then you leave it in the fridge and eat it cold - so tasty!
Because it was an Irish recipe, she used golden syrup, which is common in the UK but not in the US. However, I was able to find it at 17th St. Market - yeah!
Isn't it GORGEOUS! All the whippy meringue "frosting"?!?! Soooooo good....
We had an okay monsoon (not as much rain as some seasons), but just seeing the huge, looming clouds this summer was a daily delight. And I found these tiiiinnnnnyyyy mushrooms on Mt. Lemmon last week, which my brother said not to eat because they're poisonous.
I love that he knows these things :)
Picture 3 is a little patch of clovers that I found when hiking...so cute! Go ND!
I've been discovering tons of great music from a website called NoiseTrade. They have artists put up specific albums, and then let you download said albums for free - YES FREE.
Artists like The Civil Wars, Alexi Murdoch, and Page CXVI (who I mentioned earlier on the blog) are just a few of the artists that I've been able to dwell in this summer because of this website.
Thanks NoiseTrade!
But just for a memorial to music of this past summer, here were some favorites (that may or may not have come out in the summer):
The Decemberists, Don't Carry it All
[Though this NPR video makes it seem very acoustic, the album is actually much more rock-eque - very nice]
Juanes, Tr3s Presents Juanes MTV Unplugged
[this is EPIC]
Judah & the Lion, First Fruits
[A band I found when a friend and I were hunting for worship music that doesn't musically suck. Their song "Life Up My Soul" is actually my favorite, but it's not on YouTube, so you guys get this taste!]
One of the best things of the summer was getting to spend time hanging with dear friends who I see less when I'm working - like this girl! My "niece" (we're not actually related) is getting to babbling stage, and it was a delight to soak in it this summer with her parents.
Love you guys!
Her mom and I let her try some of the foam from my latte - just from this face you can tell she thought we were crazy for liking it :)
Summer is almost over! :( So I'm going to be posting a few things that I loved doing this summer, things that particularly made the summer of 2012 a blast. Starting with this pic! I took it last night at the park where I ran into 3 of my students, and only 1 pretended like they didn't know me :) Gorgeous clouds and sunsets - definitely a plus for Summer de'12!
I've been totally rocking this album by a band called Page CXVI that I got for free. They take hymns and redux them, which we often do at my church, so it's been awesome to listen to their renditions. They also sing through some hymns I've never heard, having grown up Catholic.
I really like this one, which is near and dear to my heart - and don't you just love how she rocks out when she plays!?! And gotta love the slide guitar! Mmm mmm...
Below is the song I've actually been practicing and belting at the top of my lungs. :) It's such a BEAUTIFUL hymn, and I really like the funky background drums...sounds so awesome! They don't have a video for it, so excuse the cheesy Youtube lyrics video (I tend to hate those), but you can still hear it, which is totally worth it.
The same one my dog and I normally run in the dry sand in...how thrilling, huh?! We've had tons of rain here in Tucson, and I'm loving it! Hopefully it keeps it up tomorrow for church (which is cooled by swamp coolers...booo humidity!)
We had an awesome series of storms go through the Tucson basin on the 4th of July. All through the night, we had rain. Woke up to it, then it stopped mid-morning while I got coffee with a friend, and as I drove home I could see it in the distance...loooooming.
I must find it!
So I drove speedily home, changed, grabbed the dog, and we were off! We went out to Tucson Mountain Park, because I know the area and there aren't really any low spots (both necessary to be wise with potential flash flooding). It was GORGEOUS. Took these shots either in the wash in the morning or driving into the park. I didn't bring my phone on the trail for fear it would get soaked.
I'm glad I proved to be right! :D
Here's the radar from the area - the big orange-red dot was about to hit where I was. Oh joy that was mine. The dog has never been so clean :)
I found a recipe for tres leches cake (a Mexican cake I've wanted to learn how to make) on this Irish food blog I follow (of all places, I know right?). Erin and I embarked on the adventure of making it on one of those lovely rainy days - so great!
However, pay careful attention to the metric/imperial measurements...when it says 200c/400f, pick 400! Here in America we use Fahrenheit, and if you put your oven on 200 it will just stay wiggly and then get a little more like shortcake than fluffy angel-food-cake-esque. Oops.
But it turned out ok. I'm just curious what the real texture would be like!
If you've never heard of it, you make a cake, poke LOTS of holes in it, and then pour a combo of 3 milks (hence tres (3) leches (milks)) and then some INTO the cake. When you pour the milks while it's still hot, it soaks the liquid up like a sponge and then you leave it in the fridge and eat it cold - so tasty!
Because it was an Irish recipe, she used golden syrup, which is common in the UK but not in the US. However, I was able to find it at 17th St. Market - yeah!
Isn't it GORGEOUS! All the whippy meringue "frosting"?!?! Soooooo good....
