Ice Carving, Festival of Colors, and Decisions...

Wow, I have really slacked off on this whole blogging thing the last couple of weeks, but I have a great excuse-- its called "school". Sigh. I have been so incredibly busy, and am so excruciatingly exhausted, that I hope I can manage to finish this post before I am overcome with sleep. I apologize that this post will probably not be very insightful, nor a very thrilling thing to read, but I felt a little update was in order, so here it is.

On Tuesday I made my first (and possibly my last) attempt at ice carving. The overall experience was exhilarating, though a lot more intense than I had expected. My class split up into groups of 2 where we created templates of the design we would use for our sculpture, after which we transposed it by poking holes through the outline on the paper into the ice with an ice-pic of sorts. Once the outline was there, we broke out the chainsaws and hacked away at the ice until we had a rough image to work with .(I won't deny that this was a little scary for me as it was my first time using a chainsaw...however, it was kind of empowering. Don't worry though, I'm not about to go all "Friday the 13th" on everyone...) After the main chunks of ice were removed with the saw, we set to chiseling for the next three hours. It was hard work! Being the perfectionist that I am I took the task very seriously, and approached it with a sort of manic zeal, wanting every detail to be flawless. I definitely didn't acheive perfection, in fact we didn't even finish it which means we'll have to find some spare time before Thursday to complete it for the annual "Scholarship Ball", but it's getting there. Anyway, enough babbling. Here are some pictures:

We call him "Frankie". He's supposed to be a 1920's gangster to go with the theme of our scholarship ball... unfortunately he kind of looks like a cowboy, but we're working on it...

On Saturday I attended the "Festival of Colors" at the local Hari Krishna temple with some friends. I have been to the temple once before for a different festival, but this experience was a lot more fun than the last. Every year the Krishnas welcome in spring with the festival; I'm sure it is a celebration of more significance to them than that, but I don't know very much about it. To celebrate, everyone in attendance purchases little bags of chalky colored powder. The celebration commences with the lighting of a bonfire and burning of a witch in effigy, subsequently followed by everyone in attendance throwing the colored powder at eachother. There was music (which consisted of people taking turns singing the words, "Hari Krishna" over and over again in the most creative/original way they could think of), and dancing (which included crowd surfing, moshing, and me being a lot closer to a lot of people than I ever cared to be), and an omnipresent pink cloud hovering overhead (the effects of which have permanantly dyed my snot pink). It was honestly one of the weirdest things I've ever been involved in. The place looked like a war zone. But it was really fun, and if I'm around next year I'll definitely go again.

That pretty much sums up the more exciting adventures of my last couple weeks. Other than that I've been immersed in school, and it doesn't look like its going to be letting up any time in the near future. I'm really grateful for this time of my life where I can have so many experiences and obtain knowledge and an education. However, I have so many big decisions in front of me right now that I don't even know how to start making them. I've hardly had enough sane moments to devote to thinking about them and I don't think I've ever felt so directionless or unsure in my life. As difficult as this is for me, the positive side is that I'm so blessed to be able to have so many options before me. Part of what makes deciding so hard is the wide range of opportunities that are available. I feel so lucky to even have the chance to decide between all of these good things because the majority of people in this world will never have a chance to do this. I am afraid that we who live in this day and age and country too often take for granted the endless possibilities that are ours. We truly live a priveledged life and so, even though I am struggling to figure things out, I can't help but be grateful for the opportunity to decide.

Going for the...uh, bronze

This was a very interesting week; you know, the kind that drags on and on but when it is over you look back and wonder where it went? I'm not really sure that last week even happened to be honest-- it all seems like a distant memory now. However, the effects of the sleep-debt I have incurred are proof enough that last week did, indeed, happen and that I somehow was a part of it.

Friday marks a milestone for me in terms of my education and all that I've been training to do. I was involved, for the first time, in a culinary competition; kind of a sporting event for people who like to cook. My entire class was required to participate, and had we known beforehand what we were getting ourselves into, we would never have volunteered for it (even if we had a choice). The competition was hosted by the ACF (American Culinary Federation) and was called a "Cold Foods Competition" which, sadly, does not involve ice cream of any kind. The ACF cold foods competition consists of a number of different categories that the competitors can choose from-- including wedding cakes, show platters, hors d'oeuvres platters, and a five course meal-- all presented cold and dipped in a substance called Aspic, which is made from gelatin. This competition is completely for show, and judges the cooks on their knife skills, creativity, presentation skills, and pretty much their ability to be perfect. My classmates and I spent countless hours on our projects; planning, organizing, and preparing each item as carefully as we could. The process of "aspic-ing" is very gruelling, and cannot be done too far in advance, which required us to stay at school all night Thursday to do it properly. I got home at about 6 am, after having been at school since 8:30 am the previous day, and slept for two hours before getting up, showering, and heading back to school to finish my work. I worked from 10 am to 2 pm, trying to get every detail as perfect as possible, and knowing that it wasn't--and couldn't possibly be-- perfect. At 2 the judging began and we all slumped back to the kitchen to clean up the horrific mess we had made, while the judges analyzed and picked apart the results of our efforts. I felt like I was running a marathon, and was pushing myself past what anyone should reasonably put their body through. At 4 pm they invited us back into the presentation room and subjected us to another 2 hours on our feet while they verbally ripped each competitor's display to shreds, one at a time. It wouldn't have been "better" if it had been a reality tv show-- the judges hardly had a nice or decent thing to say about anything, and all of the effort and lack of sleep didn't help to lift our spirits as we endured their criticisms. Then came the "awards ceremony". The important thing to note here is that this wasn't a competition against each other--everyone had the opportunity to receive a medal if their presentations were acceptable to the judges. Sadly, the outcome was not what we were expecting or could have hoped for. The judges were even less impressed than we realized, and nobody walked out of there with higher than a bronze medal, which they gave very few of. I was one of the few lucky ones who did manage to scrape a bronze, but I do feel bad for all of my very talented colleagues who were seriously ripped off. I'm pretty sure most of them deserved it more than me.

Anyway, now that its all over and I have had a chance to catch up on some much-needed beauty sleep, I am grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in this. Despite the difficulty of the tasks, both physically and mentally, it was a really good learning experience, and I have a personal sense of accomplishment simply because I got through it. However, should I choose to compete in the future, I think I'll stick to competitions that allow me to make food the way it is intended to be-- EATEN.

Roasted Rack of Lamb with Mushroom-Asparagus Risotto, Oven-dried tomato, Haricot Vert, and Rosemary Jus

Mediterranean Seafood Platter- Pan-seared Scallop , Sauteed Shrimp, Grilled Baby Octopus

Open-faced Gyro with Tzatziki Sauce and Cucumber Salad

Chicken Consomme with Stuffed Grape leaf

Greek Tomato Salad with Feta Cheese, Kalamata Olives, Mint, and a Balsamic Reduction

Gratitude

I haven't posted in over a week and have been wracking my brain all day trying to come up with some occurrence in my recent life that I would consider "blogworthy". It didn't come to me until I was talking to my mom about my week and was reminded, once again, how blessed I am and how many small yet extraordinary things happen to me everyday. I feel overwhelmed with gratitude and if no one else gets anything out of this post it doesn't really matter, because I just feel the need to write...

The week started out with troublesome news followed by some difficult experiences, the gory details of which I will spare you the torture of reading. Suffice it to say that I was in a state of emotional distress. I awoke Tuesday morning after a restless night, fully aware of the 2 mid-terms and 3 projects that were due over the next three days, and my first impulse was to crawl back under the covers and stay there until the end of the semester... However, I somehow got up and felt surprisingly alert. From that moment the rest of the week passed in a blur. My tests came and went, my projects magically completed themselves, more assignments and other arduous tasks were heaped on my shoulders and it didn't even phase me. Looking back on it now, I am in total awe that I not only survived, but I got through it all without feeling the magnitude of what I was dealing with. There is only one explanation, and my simple words cannot do it justice.

In Mosiah 24, Alma and his people are oppressed and suffering in bondage. Their afflictions were so great that they couldn't even pray aloud to God to help them. The lesson taught here is significant:

"And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts and intents of their hearts. And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good
comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

Mosiah 24:12-14

There is so much that can be learned from these short verses; so much that I have been taught by them in the past. For example, it is important to note that the Lord does promise to help and deliver his people-- he doesn't say when that will be, but the covenant is there. He also promises to ease their burdens so that they cannot feel them, and he does it so that they can stand as witnesses for Him and know of his love and compassion for them.

There are a few times in my life where I can recall with clarity that I have experienced and felt the effects of this promise. This week was definitely one of those times, and I would be very ungrateful if I didn't express it in some way. There is absolutely no way that I could have accomplished all that I had to do without having a nervous breakdown if I had been left to do it all by myself. Somehow, miraculously, every task was accomplished, and they were accomplished well. The grief that had been almost debilitating when the week began was simply lifted and set to the side; still present, but somehow bearable. I can't even begin to describe how light my burdens felt, and how conquerable each challenge became. It is amazing to me that Heavenly Father cares enough about me to help me like that. Because of and through the atonement of Christ, the Lord is able to help and comfort His people through distressing times. When we are striving to do what is right, His grace (the enabling and strengthening power of the atonement) is able to take effect, and we are able to do things we otherwise would not be able to do if left to our own devices. I still had to DO all of the work that had been assigned to me--none of that was taken away-- but the incredible thing is that I was able to do it. Heavenly Father will never take away our trials prematurely--he will never take away our opportunities to grow and learn, and experience life. However, I know that he is aware of the thoughts and intents of our hearts, and he CAN make our burdens light and our trials easier to endure. He has definitely done that for me.

There is a quote I like from the movie "Stranger Than Fiction" that I think applies here.

"Sometimes, when we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. And, fortunately, when there aren't any cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction. And we must remember that all these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know that it just so happens to be true."

This post would not be complete if I didn't express gratitude for some of the little things that save my life. I'm thankful for my family, who stand by me and support me through every decision I make, and who offer comfort and strength when I most need it. I'm thankful for good friends who listen to and laugh with me. I'm thankful for education and all of the opportunities for growth that come along with it. I'm thankful for bike rides and smoothies and sunny days. I'm thankful that some of you will still be reading this blog even though its getting really sappy... I'm very grateful to be alive, and for everything that comes with it.