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Long Time Over Due

I have come to realize that I need to blog more. I am not making any promises because I know as well as the rest of you how unreliable I can be at blogging :) But I feel like I have had some interesting events occur in my life the last couple months. Not life changing, just eventful. I have pictures and videos and it is time to share them.

To Preface, I am pretty sure that both moose and fires are attracted to me the proof is as follows.

FIRE EVENT #1

I really don't know much more than what is stated in the video, but how random to see a motorbike on fire at a Gas Station in Boise.

FIRE EVENT #2 & #3

This wonderful picture was taken from my apartment window. Tip for those moving out - Never move into an apartment complex with 900 19/20 year old girls. This was a picture after being told it was safe to come back in. And this is only one of two fires that happened in that building in the last three months. Needless to say I am moving to another complex, but there are other reasons in addition to my life and safety :)

FIRE EVENT #4

This is where I work. Normally, I work pretty late but yesterday I left early to watch my niece and nephew. An hour or so later my mom called and told me she drove by where I work and one of the buildings was on fire. I drove by and got this picture. I spoke to a police officer who told me no one was hurt. Which is good. The building that was on fire was the maintenance shop which means that yes I still have a job. I really won't know much until Monday at work.

Do you believe me that I attract fires yet? Now the moose...

MOOSE EVENT #1 & #2
Sorry no pictures for these ones unfortunately, I didn't take my phone or camera on the river with me.

So when it is nice an hot out, we like to take to the river and leisurely float. The river is not that wide or that fast. My dear friend Todd had mentioned seeing moose on previous trips but I didn't really think it was going to be an issue. I was wrong!

First trip down the river we come around a corner and I see a large dark brown animal on the other side, 20 ft away from us. I really really wanted it to be a cow but it didn't take long to realize it was not. I think the giant rack on it's head made that quite simple. One of my idiot friends, if you're reading this Mark I say idiot with the warmest friendliest intentions, wanted to swim over to it as I was having a heart attack about being that close on a flimsy air mattress. But luckily the moose got annoyed and ventured off.

The second trip down the river was uneventful but the third time we again encountered a moose mere meters away from us as we floated towards it. Freaky! But once again the moose meandered away. This one was a female.

MOOSE EVENT #3

This is my most traumatic experience by far. I literally had anxiety for at least a week after this.

My roommates and I were coming home and as we got out of the car I glanced over and saw what I at first thought was a horse running through the parking lot. It was weird to see a horse but when I took a double take I realized it was not a horse, it was a moose! My roommates didn't believe me when I yelled out but when the moose came to a dead end and turned it's gait toward us, they certainly knew I wasn't crazy and ran screaming. It was pretty frightening and I am sure glad that some guys on their four-wheelers came screaming in scaring the moose back towards the corner. The moose had no option but to bound up the stairs and between the buildings. From this point the newspaper article, picture and video can show you the rest. She ended up jumping a fence that got her stuck in a field.  

http://www.uvsj.com/news/moose-draws-a-crowd-near-apartment-complex/article_3f9bc93a-c555-11e1-a1c8-0019bb2963f4.html#axzz21zAXcSoU

MOOSE EVENT #4

So this one is just kind of funny. A friend in my spanish class liked to bug me about moose searching me out. There was another moose on campus the next week he said the moose was looking for me.

Then one day he handed me this piece of paper and I was like what but when I turned it over this is what I saw.

Funny yes, pretty good drawing though hey :) LOL

Well that is all for now, as you can see my life is pretty boring :)

Quick & Light Tuna Salad

1/4 c. Italian parsley leaves
3 scallions (green onions) with stems, cut into pieces
1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper
1/4 c. fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1/8 tsp. hot pepper sauce
2 cans (6-oz. each) light or white albacore tuna packed in water, drained

1. Put parsley, scallions, salt and pepper in Quick Chef bowl with blade. Turn handle until chopped finely.
2. Carefully remove blade; insert paddle whisk. Add lime juice, hot pepper sauce and tuna. turn handle until well mixed.
3. Serve immediately as spread on crackers or serve on bread with lettuce and tomato. Cover and refrigerate leftover tuna; use by next day. About 4 sandwiches or spread for 24 crackers.

Raspberry Cream Pie

1 (6oz) Reduced Fat Graham Cracker Crust
1 (14oz) Can Regular or Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT Evaporated Milk)
2/3 Cup Western Family Frozen Raspberry Lemonade Concentrate, Thawed
8oz Western Family Fat Free Whipped Topping, Thawed (3 cups)
1 Cup Fresh or Frozen Whole Raspberries

In a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and juice concentrate; mix well. Fold in fat free whipped topping. Spoon 1/2 cup raspberries into bottom of crust; top with filling. Freeze 6 hours. Top with remaining raspberries just before serving. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers.

Taco Chicken with Corn Salsa

1 envelope (1 ¼ ounces) taco seasoning mix

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1 ¼ pounds)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 can (11 ounces) whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained

1 medium avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon honey

1. 1 Reserve 2 teaspoons of the taco seasoning mix in medium bowl. Coat chicken with remaining taco seasoning mix.
2. 2 Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken in oil 3 to 5 minutes, turning once, until brown. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook about 8 minutes, turning once, until chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.
3. 3 While chicken is cooking add remaining ingredients to reserved taco seasoning mix; toss gently. Serve salsa with chicken.

Expert Tips

You can make the salsa ahead of time, but be sure to add the avocado just before serving to preserve its color and texture.

Long Awaited

I am beginning to feel the pressure. People keep asking me about my blog and I keep saying, yeah yeah I'll get to it. So this is me getting to it. Now what do you want to know about my life. I think that is the harder question to answer. Well since I haven't written anything in over a year I guess that is a lot of information to cover. But being the one who has actually lived through the last year of my life, I don't really know how interesting it has been but here it goes...

I have been living in Edmonton this past year and have enjoyed spending time with my family and getting to know new things about the city I grew up in. I believe the most exciting thing that has happened to me this past year would have to be the birth of my new little niece, Eden Lily Chiu. Eden was born on May 16 and I had the wonderful opportunity to be present for her birth. Contrary to my mothers fears and my sisters worries, I still wish to have children someday, even after seeing the labor process. The best moment of my year was definitely the time I was able to spend with Eden minutes after her birth. We were able to have some time for just the two of us and it was amazing. I love that little girl so much and love spending time with her and her big brother whenever I can.

When I am not smothering my niece and nephew with love, I can be found at my place of work, CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) Side note: It is kind of funny that the name of the organization is CNIB, they recently changed the name from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind because they wanted to get rid of the false assumptions that one must be blind to receive services from our offices. Many of our clients still have partial vision. But when I tell people I work for CNIB and am met with their puzzled looks I usually have to say it is the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Kinda defeats the purpose don't ya think? :)
Anyways, I have had some awesome opportunities working at CNIB. My official job title is Administrative Support. I do third party invoicing in the mornings and cover reception in the afternoons. Well those are my official duties but I have been lucky enough to become somewhat of a go to do all employee. Which I am thankful for, because it keeps things interesting :) Due to turn over in the Children's department at work, I had the opportunity to go to a Weekend retreat in Kananaskis as well as to organize the Children's summer camps. I was also able to attend a conference with the Seniors group and have been asked to volunteer with the deafblind group. I am constantly in awe of the people around me and how awesome they are. I work with some amazing people, who are always putting others first and I am able to learn so much from them.

That said, I have mixed feelings about leaving them this coming April and returning to school at BYU-Idaho. As much as I enjoy the people I work with, I am ready to finish my degree and work in the advertising and design field. I have been taking online classes here and there to keep my degree going but at the rate I am going I will never get my degree, so the plan is to go back to Idaho in April for the Spring semester and see how that goes down. If all is well I will be back in January to do both the Winter and Spring semesters in 2012. I will work on getting an internship for Fall of 2012 and then should be able to finish my classes and graduate in April of 2013. Allowing me to reach my goal of graduating before I turn 30, with a little bit of time to spare.

Other than work and family I have spent a lot of time in the last few months doing missionary work. It has been pretty awesome and I have completely selfish motives for doing it but I think it has benefited more than just me. I have definitely gained a testimony of visiting teaching and of that sharing your testimony helps strengthen it. I have made some awesome friends and had some really uplifting experiences. One reason I am sad about going back to Idaho is that missionary work is not as straight forward as it is in Edmonton. In Edmonton I meet people everyday who I can teach about my faith, in Idaho 99.9% of the people I meet will either be a member already or will have knowledge about the Gospel. I do look forward to being around people who share the same beliefs as me but sometimes that can make things harder as well. Regardless, I am happy with my decision to go back to school and look forward to finishing my degree.

I will miss my family and friends in Edmonton but after living here this past year, I have come to not hate this place as much as I thought I did, so I will be back to visit as often as possible. Preferably in the summer :)

A Call for Change

I was sustained and set apart as the Highlands Ward Relief Society Secretary yesterday afternoon and I have to tell you that it was a call that came to be quite overwhelming. I know I can handle the call, mostly because I will rely heavily on my Heavenly Father to get the job done, but I think it hit hard because I fully set on hiding away from the rest of the world for the remainder of my time in Edmonton.

Apparently, once again, my plans differ from the man in charge. Instead of remaining invisible I am now going to become BFF’s with the whole Relief Society. Yay Me! I don’t really understand why it is such a hard thing for me to do while I am in Edmonton but I really struggle with putting myself out there when I am up here. Maybe the cold makes me grumpy. Regardless, I know it is possible and I really am looking forward to it. I just hope that no one is disappointed.

As the secretary I am a support to the President and really have nothing to complain about regarding meetings and other tasks, because my load is minor in comparison. However, I sit at the front every Sunday looking out at the girls and having them looking back at me. I know that no one is perfect but this spotlight that hovers around the Relief Society Presidency makes me think I need to step it up a few notches so that I can truly be the example I am needed to be.
As I spoke with my Bishop yesterday I was told to forget myself and everything else would work out, both within my calling and within my personal life. Now is the time to put that to the test.

Do The Blind See Better Than We Do?

I haven’t blogged in forever and I know that I owe those faithful followers a more detailed update on my life but I just wanted to talk about some amazing people I get to work with for the next few weeks.
I am currently temping covering the reception at CNIB (The Canadian National Institute for the Blind) and the people I meet here amaze me!
Today I met a 93 year old man who sat through 6 hours of testing and teaching and still was upbeat enough to joke around with me about putting his picture in the paper (you had to be there). The man uses a walker and is blind, but he is in much better shape that people much younger than him and in much better spirits.
Today I also met a boy who needed my help finding the address for the SPCA. The boy took out a bus map and held it an inch away from his face to try and find the address. He was distraught when the first address was 6 blocks away from a bus route. Luckily we found an alternate address and he went off to catch his bus. The fact that he can barely see and is taking public transportation amazes me enough (I’m scared out of my mind to take the bus, in Edmonton, who knows where I would end up), but that he is taking his time afterschool to go to the SPCA is incredible.
These are just two examples of the amazing people I get to interact with everyday for the next 3 weeks. Being blind is not a hardship for them it is a way of life.
I won’t be hypocritical and say suck it up these guys have a significant trial and they’ve made the best of it, because honestly I know that some of the hardest trials are once that you can’t see. But I hope that I can keep these people in mind next time one of those trials comes my way.

Spiritual Extreme!

Conference was pretty sweet this weekend. I love hearing the prophet and apostles speak. I will be honest, listening to eight hours of talking is not something I am good at but I definitely recommend looking up President Uctdorf and Elder Snow's talks.

Also, unrelated to conference I had a pretty sweet tithing experience this week. I was at my friends house last Saturday and I was like, oh no how am I going to pay tuition next semster, I haven't heard back about my loan and I have zero dinero right now. I was like tomorrow I will pay my tithing and then I will hear back about my student loan, and guess what I gave the Bishop my tithing and two days letter I got my student loan information! Yay!

Put 'em up!

There is really not much to say other than that we had a Cowboy and Indian themed Graduation party for Kyndra and Natalie a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty dang sweet. Check it out!WANTED for various crimes!

But I am super sneaky and never get caught.
It's called Talent.

Where's Krystal?

Adam on the other hand not so sneaky.

Taken the boys for all they've got.

Literally

The natives were running wild that night.

But Kyndra and I can handle ourselves.

This one got a little out of control.

In the end we all made peace.

We even began to teach them what we knew.

Tubular Sweetness

A tribute to the 80's, or and 80's montage!

Hope you enjoy!

A closer look at the sweet action outfits we had!

What I have done...

Bold the things you have done. (or color)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Been to the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
20. Slept on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Dated someone you met online
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing - (on a rock wall.)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Swam in the Taiya Inlet in Alaska
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Tied a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a Bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - (well. a fish.)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

Spicy Tomato-Avacado Salsa

1/2 Bunch cilantro (cut off large stems)
2 scallions, white part and some of the green stem
1/2 Medium onion, peeled
2 Tomatoes
2 serranos or 1 jalapeño, stemmed (seeded if you wish)
1 avacado, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Divide first 6 ingredients into 2 batches. Coarsely chop ingredients of one batch. Put cilantro, scallions and onion from that batch in a blender with 1/2 cut water and pulse briefly. Add tomato and chiles from same batch and pulse briefly again. Add avacado from same batch and pulse again. Do not overblend. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

Finely chop ingredients from other bathc and stir into blended salsa. Add salt to taste. Serve immediately. Makes approximately 4 cups.

Tips:
Don't leave food processor on for long, strain excess juice
Pull Leaves off of cilantro and chop with onion
Avacado should be a creamy texture - cake batterish

Teresa and Kevin, Ros and Ryan

This is the final of Kevin and Teresa's Wedding invite. I know it is a little different than what some of you may have gotten in the mail, but I thought the type needed to be sized down a bit so this how it is now.

And this is Ros and Ryan's invitation, but the type maybe different when finished because Ros wanted to put on her own type.

Kyndra's Graduation Announcement

I am only posting finals on this website now so here is Kyndra's Announcement, if I post it now that means I can't change it :)
Let me know what you think!

GREEN GREEN GREEN

So St. Patricks day always a favorite holiday because I LOVE GREEN. Infact I love it so much I have made it my goal to wear green all week instead of just on the 17th. I am doing good so far only two outfits left to choose. Today and tomorrow. - Yes I am still in my pajamas at 11 am on a Friday. I don't have class and technically don't need to be at work until 1 so why not.

Ok back on topic.

I have an amazing roommate whom I love and can't imagine life without, Natalie. She is so cute and made us a green dinner on Tuesday. Check it out.

A Little Late - I know

OK so I figured that it is better to post this then to forget about it all together right? :)

Fabulous Fifties and the Sweet Sounds of SoundCHECK

So I apologize for the lack of posting, I am sure you have all been missing my wonderful tangents.

The highlight of my recent activities are as follows:

Last Monday for family home evening the theme was Fabulous Fifties. First off I have to admit that I have adopted myself into my neighbors FHE group due to the fact that - one my FHE siblings don't show up and two when they do, well they are all 7 years younger than me. Anyways, We dressed up in our Fifties clothing and headed to a fabulous diner here in Rexburg. The best thing about the diner - The theme. Old School to the max. Check it out....

Check out Kyndra's "Sandy Outfit" and yes I pretty much wear the same outfit to Church but whatev.
Were we surprised that Eric wore a vest that night - nope.

Our next adventure was played out over the last two days. My friend from work, Josh, plays in a band called Soundcheck. I had heard Josh play before in Guitars Unplugged (A show the school puts on every semester) and Music Outlet (Another school thing). So when I heard that he had an actual band I was definitely intrigued. We went to their show about a month ago and they were pretty good. And as girls do, my friends all fell in love with the band members, so when I found out that they were playing Friday and Saturday this weekend there was no question what our plans were.

Friday was a way good show. Technically they were supporting a Boise band Spondee at their CD release but Spondee opened for Soundcheck not the other way around. Spondee was awesome and I highly recommend you look them up on My Space.

Saturday was not as good of a show per se but it was so much fun, because we actually hung out with Soundcheck. We had never actually met any one other than Josh and the rest of the band is definitely as cool as he is. They were way fun and love their "groupies" :) Anyways it was a lot of fun. A couple of them actually came and hung out with us tonight. So when they are super famous we will totally have hook ups :)

This is Soundcheck while they were playing - Cassie and I are posing in the back ground.

And again, were a little small but we are there!

Cassie, Kyndra, Kiley and Me - They took this pic because we were so freaking cool and supportive. We rocked all night long!

The Band - Josh, Nate, Brent and Jake

This is my friend Josh - I just thought this was a way cool picture!

This is the Spondee CD, the other band we liked Friday night, it's our new fav. (Only because Soundcheck doesn't have one out)

Check out my new Blog

So instead of putting all of my half done creations on my blog I decided to create a new blog that shows my progress allowing you all to critque me and let me know what I need to do better! So Check it out!

Click on the Posts title or copy and past the following URL
http://critiquekrystal.blogspot.com

The life of a 25 year old

As a precursor, I want to say to Holly that we are not having any fun at all, regardless of the pictures. The smiles are all fake because we are missing you so much and so dang jealous that you are in Hawaii complaining that 80 degrees is too cold when we are wishing it would be 8 degrees. Love Ya Holly :)

The past two weeks have been full of interesting adventures. Let me tell you that not worrying about boys is pretty much the best thing ever! I don't know why I have wasted so much time worry over stupid guys who are not interested in me and I am so much happier not worrying about them and just having a good time myself. I figure any guy would be lucky to have me so they can find me instead!

It seems that this semester has been a semester of dressing up. Every weekend we find a reason to where something out of the ordinary. As seen in my last post my superhero themed birthday party started off the adventures.

The next week was Cowboy week. We hit up the Spirit Week Rodeo dressed to impress.

It was put on by the School so some of my friends rode calves and then they had little kids riding sheep. So cute. I think the reason it was so fun though was just because we got to dress up :)

This week was Valentines Day so we got creative. There is this book that came out like 5 years ago called He's just not that into you and they made a movie of it. So we decided that that was to be our Valentines Day celebration. We saved up our pennies so we could go to the Expensive theatre where the new releases are shown. We had some dye left from our 4th of July excursions so we decided to make Valentine's Day shirts, we tie dyed and used iron ons to create one of a kind valentine day apparel. After the movie we had bajio's and then came home for some Love Stinks cake.