This Week

This week has been one of those super long weeks that's not even over with but has yay far ended in a dramatic emotional breakdown in front of my boss at work today. *heavy sigh* That's not to say that I haven't gotten anything done, but it has been quite difficult to do anything when my mind is going in about six different directions at once. As my boss says I'm "burning the candle at both ends", this sadly does not help with maintaining ones sanity and should thus be avoided. Just to add to everything I'm coming off a cold today which has drained all of my remaining energy (there isn't as much as I'd like there to be but that happens) and caused a craving for hot cocoa and soup (or Matt's cinnamon and sugar toast, yummy!) and a desire to curl up in a little ball and sleep, ignoring like everything. However, since that is not an option, I shall instead curl up in my pjs tonight and watch some documentary (or perhaps a show) tonight.
I do hear a bottle of wine calling my name for perhaps this weekend? Any takers? Well, I just wanted to post that I haven't forgotten about this blog, I just have been feeling so down in the dumps lately that I haven't had anything of interest to post! That, however, shall hopefully change by next week!
Also, Valentine's Day is coming up! I gotta figure out something to do!! *Panic*
Love you all and thanks for being understanding, I know there have been a lot of excuses lately...
Sara :)

Musica Monday

For this Musica Monday, I'm going to have a bit of fun. I've been asked to take some of my artistic skills (if one would call it that) and try and help a certain band come up with artistic ideas. I am also to pass this information on to Matt, who is the resident freelance artist :D. They are a quirky band called BEAKER. This song that I'm showing here tonight is the first song of theirs I heard. It is a bit strange but if you go in with a good attitude, it is quite amusing. I mean.....squirrel!! This song, you just have to listen to to understand. I know the main singer and he's pretty awesome and super funny! I hope that you guys enjoy this song and at least find it funny. If you have any ideas for these guys as far as humorous/funky/punk art goes feel free to send it to them or post it here :D

Love,
Sara :)

History Lesson: Theory of Nun

Egyptian Mythology is probably one of my favorite mythologies. Norse and Greek and Roman aren't far away, but Egyptian was the first mythology that caught my interest. Maybe it is because the gods and goddesses are so numerous and so interesting looking. Well, I'll be doing some talking about Egyptian mythology every so often here, but for today I want to talk about the theory of Nun.

Nun was the father of the gods, also called 'Nu' or chaos. Unlike other gods, Nun was a purely intellectual concept, meaning there were (and are) no temples or worshipers. The theory of Nun is the Egyptian theory of the beginning of humankind. The theory is the idea that there was a primordial ocean with no surface that completely filled the entire universe. This ocean started retreating and in this process it leaves little pools which are the basics of life as we know it.

What do you think? I thought this was cool and I'm adding it to my storytelling book that I'm working on (one of those projects that I'm not sure I will ever get done, but I've always wanted to write a book).

Also, a big thanks to Matt for having my back and producing an awesome Musica Monday on Monday :) you're awesome!!!!

Love,

Sara

Musica Monday

     And here is another edition of musica monday for Sara!  She just might be at work for the whole day and she asked me to cover during the meantime :D  So.........for today I am going to shoot us back to 2001.  This is the year that the first Animusic CD was released, and since then I have loved all the company has done.  They create music with matching videos of animated instruments playing, but instead of explaining it I will just show you!

                                                                Looky here!
                                                                        |
                                                                        |
                                                                       V

This is one of my favorite songs from the first cd - I just think it is beautifully composed and a joy to watch visually.

Also on the first CD is this awesome song called Heavy Light and I still to this day get the chills listening to it.  In a good way of course.

In 2005, the second CD was released, and there are many great songs on it.  But I will cut it short by just giving you what may be my favorite Animusic song, fiber bundles.  It is so futuristic and lovely at the same time, with some amazing musical elements that I can't fully explain due to my lack of music theory knowledge :P  I hope you enjoyed this afternoon of animated music, and as always have a great day!

-Matt

Easy Things To Help You Stay Healthy

When people first look at trying to be healthy, often it is a panicked: 'omg! Complete lifestyle change needed right now!' This really isn't a good way to go, because you won't lose those bad habits you had and you'll instead start hating the 'healthy' lifestyle you've started. I would suggest something much simpler: start one step at a time.
If you want to change you eating habits, then start with swapping out that bag of potato chips for a bag of dried fruit or carrots or a bag of baked chips even. If you want to start exercising, don't jump right in and say 'I'm going to exercise every day for an hour!' Seriously? Going from being sedentary (not exercising) to full blown is not a great way to start. I know, I know, the TV shows we all watch tell us differently, but honestly starting out with walking the dog in the morning a few days a week, or going walking with friends, start taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator (escalators are not the same as stairs, sorry). These simple things are the things that can start getting you on the road towards a healthier lifestyle.
Other tips I've found from looing around include: always having a water bottle on you and drinking and refilling it several times throughout the day, eat something every 3 hours or so (not a full meal mind you) in order to help you from getting hungry and overeating, and find something that motivates you to get better and focus on that!

Hope this was interesting! I'm sitting at work alone with no current clients (Thursdays are suuuuuuper slow!), so I thought now would be a good time for a blog post :P

Love,
Sara :)

Grip Strength

In my quest to collect whatever I can that will help me physically to do what I want to do, I was lead to a device commonly used by everyone from rock climbers to martial artists to hunters. That's right! I got myself a grip master! This really means that I am going to try and increase my finger and thumb strength, because I've been noticing that my grip strength really isn't that good at all. It has been getting better just from climbing, but now since we don't have as much time to go climbing (we don't go nearly every weekend anymore :( now it's more like once a month?) I was looking for something that could help, especially during winter. Unfortunately (or fortunately, I'm not sure yet), I got the 'heavy tension' version (which is the black one FYI) and did not even realize it! Wish me luck with that...

Oh! I also just made my first purchase from Threadless and am super excited to show off what I got!! Hopefully they are awesome and I can use one with this skirt I have that I don't have a shirt for :P

Love,

Sara :)

Musica Monday

Today has been a long day, so instead of getting too deep into too much thinking today I'm going to leave you guys with a song that my friends and I used to jam out to in high school and middle school. It's truly a classic, at least to me even to this day! I hope you enjoy a little Jet, dear readers. Here is 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl?' and one of my favorite music videos for this song :P

Also, the latest from Pentatonix is here (well, like 2 weeks old) and is freaking awesome!! Enjoy!!

Love,

Sara

Library Books

I think I need to rethink my strategy when going to the library. First off, I need to remember when I have already requested books. Secondly, I need to remember that I can't read books 24/7 (even if some days that is all I want to do). Thirdly, the length of the book does (usually) tend to make it a longer read, especially when I am not sure if I will like it or not. Fourthly, I should really look at how many books I'm grabbing for the next few weeks when I grab them rather than after I get them home and realize my book bag is heavier than when I brought my books back.
This library trip resulted in five books that I won't be starting until I finish my current read The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (SUCH a good book! But still long, and yes I'm a bit slow on the uptake here...). It would be a bit different if these books were all shorter books and not the 465 page Science Fiction book I decided needed to be read :P
However, this is simply a part of my personal library experience and is probably why I always have some sort of fine (never been more than a dollar!) when I try and check out more books.
This is a quirk of mine, that and BookBub. If you've never heard of it OMG! Bookworms everywhere should have this, or maybe not....it's so addicting and I've gotten so many books for my kindle this way, so definitely check it out!

Love,
Sara :)

Tofu Rigatoni Casserole

I understand that not everyone is vegetarian or even really all that concerned about what they ear. But I'm both and I would really encourage everyone to at least watch what you eat! It really can make all the difference in your daily life, why not start by trying that new(er) idea: Meatless Mondays. As Americans, and much of the human race in general, we eat way more meat than we need to in a day, and in addition to not eating nearly enough greens, fruits and other vegetables, our health is suffering because of it. So, I'm going to put this up as a healthy Meatless Monday option. Word on the street is that even kids find this yummy!

These are nearly all the ingredients that you will be using, shown in the above picture. All the ingredients are listed below:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus more for drizzling
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 pinch dried oregano
1 (12 to 14-oz) package firm tofu, drained (don't let this scare you, tofu is a friend, not scary!)
1 large egg
1 pinch grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 (10-oz) package spinach (I did not use all the spinach! You can if you want, or you can use most of it, like 8 oz, then the rest for lunch)
1 (1-lb) bag rigatoni, cooked al dente and drained (Barilla Plus is good, otherwise whatever you have)
1 lb fresh mozzarella, grated (about 4 cups)
3 oz grated Parmesan (about 3/4 cup)


1. Preheat the oven to 350F. You might also want to start your pasta at this point (follow the directions on the package for that.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-heat. Add the onion. Saute for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook until the onion is translucent, about 2 minutes more.
3. Add the tomatoes and oregano. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a blender, process the tofu, egg, nutmeg, salt, and pepper until smooth.

4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and fold in the spinach, cooked rigatoni, tomato sauce, 1 cup of mozzarella, and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan.
5. Drizzle a coating of olive oil into a 13x9-inch baking pan. Add the pasta mixture and sprinkle the remaining cheeses over the top. Bake until golden and bubbling, 35-40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

This recipe was adapted from Epicurious.com and the kitchen of a coworker of mine. I also want to put in two notes here:

1. This really is very good. My entire family loved it (and they are cautious about tofu and spinach!).

2. I am working on getting a new camera, thinking of getting either a digital camera or a digital handheld video camera with a built-in. Suggestions?!

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Sara :)

Musica Monday

Over the past several days, I've had Pandora on quite a bit, and honestly there haven't been a lot of upbeat peppy songs (other than Pitch Perfect) and it's gotten a bit tiring honestly. I understand that it is -13 outside (believe me, I went to work in it!), but that seems like it should be even more of a reason to listen to more upbeat music.
I've been listening to The Cab for a while now, found them on Pandora incidentally, while listening to my Olly Murs station. This song, 'Intoxicated', quickly became one of my favorites by them and I have always enjoyed listening to it. I think it describes love quite well. Well, the love that I know, especially the more you realize that that one person is really the one that you could see yourself with. I honestly feel intoxicated at times by his presence, and I feel like I wouldn't be happy with anyone else. I'm not sure I would compare him to a shot of whiskey but, eh, you get the idea anyways :P
Enjoy!

Love,
Sara :)