Growing Up

June 4, 2012June 21, 2012 ~ Crystle ~ 12 Comments

Now, I may be one of the last twenty-somethings my elders would consider ‘mature’, but I have learned a few things over the last half-decade. The most important of which is that we shouldn’t measure our quality of life by comparing it to that of others. It has undoubtedly been the hardest life lesson for me to wrap my mind around but once it sunk in, I was free.

In college, I used to get so angry at my peers for having it ‘so easy’. Skipping to their hometowns for Christmas while I was left in my roach infested apartment, 1500 miles away from my family; or enjoying multiple Thanksgivings with friends and family while I was alone, lamenting on the perils of being (much) lower-middle class. I constantly compared our lives and it greatly inhibited my happiness.

At the time, I didn’t appreciate that I was having a richer experience away from California, filled with tradition and antiquity. In my folly, I failed to see that I was so incredibly lucky to be in University at all. I was clouded by the misery of comparison and ungrateful for the many blessings I had in life. Growing up under the hard hand of my single-dad built character; holding multiple jobs established work ethic; the distance from my family created a sense of independence and made the act of building life-long relationships with friends a priority. I learned from the parents of my exes the lessons I hadn’t picked up in my own youth: lessons on worthiness, love, tolerance, and patience. All these experiences cultivated the person I am today.

It took years to cognize, but I finally resolved the following:
I am a tree and you are a tree; we are all beautiful trees. The tree has no control over where it is rooted in the forest, nor does it have control over the environmental factors that manipulate how it grows. So just soak up the sun, and rejoice in all your experiences as a tree at all.

Cheers.

California Sojourn

May 29, 2012June 21, 2012 ~ Crystle ~ 9 Comments

It’s been three years since I’ve been to my home state of California. I spent the first seventeen years of my life there, leaving only for Oklahoma where I went to University. Oklahoma was good to me for nearly a decade, but I’m glad that my husband whisked me away to good ole Washington State. We live much closer to my family in California than before, but after nearly 28 hours in the car this weekend, I realize it’s not quite as close as I imagined.

Yango and Iggy, our dogs, had a really cozy pallet in the rear of our Subaru Forester where they napped during our scenic drive through Oregon. We stayed overnight in Oregon twice during the drive to crop the driving sessions shorter.

We didn’t make it all the way down to my hometown of Bakersfield; instead we kicked around Northern California with my brother, mother and nephew as tour guides. It was our first time being to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA. Part Marine World, part theme park, the amusement park hosts tourists with animal shows and roller coasters. The dolphin show was one of my favorites, mainly because they caught some sick air. See what I mean?

We also got to check out a few small aquarium-like exhibits and a Tiger show. My nephew seemed to enjoy the animal activities.

On our second day of the California sojourn, we kicked around San Francisco. Every time we visit the city, we like to check out new areas. This time around, we did a lot of drive-by sight seeing (good shutter-speed practice on the ole canon) and hiked around the Sutro Baths.

I’d never heard of the Sutro Baths until my older brother Justin suggested the visit. We hiked around the site, trying to imagine what the original structure looked like. It opened in 1896 as the world’s largest indoor swimming pool establishment (thanks, Wiki!). Now a National Park, the land yields a small cave corridor, old stone structures and various hill shelves where large mason walls one stood.

They even filmed a small portion of Harold and Maude on the site! Remember where Maude protests the war, and ‘falls’ down the cliffside after a scuffle with Harold (or something to that effect)? Yep! It was here. I love stuff like that.

No trip to San Fransciso is complete without a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge. Our journey across the bridge just so happened to coincide with it’s 75th Anniversary. That day, 75 years ago, the Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public. Presidio was nearly shut down for related events, so we didn’t get to check out the park area, but the bridge isn’t going anywhere.

We were sad to say goodbye, but no vacations are endless. We can’t wait to further explore the Bay Area in the future. Until then, we’re contented to kick around our local Puget Sound.

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend!

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P.S. As a new military wife, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a big thank you to all the men and women who have served our country. Many thanks!

Sprouted Lentil Bread

May 24, 2012June 21, 2012 ~ Crystle ~ 7 Comments

This week I worked on cultivating lentil sprouts. It took several days, but it was well worth the wait.

I watched the lentil-filled mason jars on the windowsill diligently, rinsing them twice a day to ensure they were cared for properly. When those tiny green leaves finally emerged at the top of the sprout, it was chow time. I immediately went to work on incorporating them into meals. For lunch, they found themselves sprinkled on our sandwiches. For dinner, they ended up on pizza. And as for the weekly baked good, I baked them into a hearty wheat loaf of delicious sprouted lentil bread.

I’ve heard of people using sprouted flour in their hippie breads, but the recipe I looked up from Trusted Earth called for simply kneading them into the dough. So I did. And it was good. Beyond good.

The crust was artisan-tough, while the interior was soft and springy. Lentil sprouts punctuated the bread with a coarse quality akin to sunflower seeds. It was a fun balance.

I had to refine the recipe a bit, mainly because when the dough hits the mixer to knead on the bread hook, the consistency has to be correct before you can let it rise. At first the dough was too dry and wouldn’t combine. So I had to add water. But I added too much water….so went the game of adding flour and water to get the consistency correct. Typical me, I overlook such things as “let rise in pan”. So I ended up letting this loaf rise 30 extra minutes total. Which in my opinion, is never a bad idea. I find that the longer you let bread rise, the better the end result. Patience is a time honored skill in bread making.

This entire process was extremely cost effective. The dried lentils turned sprouts cost less than a dollar per cup, and we all know flour, sugar etc. is equally inexpensive. The priciest ingredient is the yeast, and I started to buying that in bulk.

I thought I was a true homemaker when I bought my first bag of flour by the 5 lb. denomination, but then I bought mozzarella in a 10 lb. bag and blasted through a quarter of it in the first week. All I could do to cope with this rapid change in lifestyle was sit in the corner and rock myself gingerly, while eating veggie pizza on homemade dough.

Splendid, delicious, life changes.