Burt's Bakery

I have a confession; I bake. This might sound weird to my few blog followers but baking was a huge part of my identity before I moved to Cedar. When we lived in New Mexico, where I was born, my mom spent months perfecting a chocolate chip cookie recipe. She took a recipe off the back of a bag of chocolate chips and just tweeked and changed ingredients until they were perfect. They're good, they're really good. I can't even really begin to describe them.

Every Burt child was raised learning how to bake these cookies. We took them to class parties, random friends on Sundays, and every family reunion. Our mom is not that hard core when it comes to cooking but she's OCD about her cookies. You have to pack the brown sugar a certain way and the flower must be measured correctly with proper butter knife technique. You can only use Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips and nothing but Blue Bonnet Margarine melted to the exact consistency. Sugars first, then magarine, eggs, vanilla, flour mixture (baking soda, salt, and flour,) all while putting the chips and nuts in half way through the flour. I can double it, cut it half, make them by hand, or use a mixture, and do it all without even thinking.

So when my brother Jeff wanted a new video game or roller blades or something along those lines, he started a cookie baking business. When he was too cool for baking, I was just old enough to use an oven by myself. I inherited a healthy clientele. We sold by the dozens, we had regulars. I new who liked extra chocolate chips, who wanted walnuts in theirs, and who I couldn't tell their spouses they were buying them. Sometimes I'd make up a batch, bag them in threes, take them to school, and sell three for a dollar to students. I'd make 5 dozen, earn 20 bucks, and be out by 3rd period. I could go home right now and call up old clients, even though it's been five years, and make 100 bucks no problem.

Moving into a dorm my freshman year that had no kitchen sent my baking out the window, it was nice not to be the girl who was expected to bring cookies to everything. So when I finally made them, I was extremely upset to find out that they turn out very different at 5846 ft above Sea Level then at 30 below. This may sounds ridiculous but it's still 5 years later quite sad to me. I've tried adjusting so many little things in the recipe but there's no hope. They still taste good in Cedar, they're just not....fluffy.

This is all on my mind because I made them this morning for Jon and Liz (best landlords ever) and all I could think about was how excited I was to move home and make some fluffy cookies. 37 days till El Centro....

The Help

Have you seen the movie The Help? If not make plans to see it ASAP, best movie I've seen in a long time. Basic Overview: In a culture where a girl's main priority is expected to be marriage (not utah but close,) Skeeter gets a college education and has strong desires of becoming a journalist. Skeeter grew up in a privileged white home in Jackson, Mississippi with an African American maid that raised her. After returning home from college she recognizes the injustice of how the maids in her community are being treated. She interviews maids about their experiences and writes an anonymous book that gets published. It was beautiful, moving, funny, you're going to want to take tissues. There were two messages in the movie that I've always firmly believed in but the reinforcement was perfect timing in my life.

While Skeeter was I'm sure a talented writer, what made the difference was that she saw everyone like a Child of God. She connected with the maids, made them feel like they could trust her, and then helped them. In a time in life where I have no life plans and I'm surrounded by friends going to medical school, and getting sweet jobs with companies like Boeing, it's nice to know that me being a people person is something valuable that can change lives, even if I can't do math.

The other lesson is that children believe what others believe about them. Skeeter never felt like the southern belle her mom wanted her to be, and even though her mom never said those words, the message was delivered clearly. Her faith in herself however, came from the maid that raised her. Her maid told her every day how beautiful, wise, and smart she was. We as humans have to take the amazing influence we have in children's live more seriously.

Lagoon!

At 8:30pm last Friday night Brant called me up and asked if I wanted to go to Provo for the weekend. We left Cedar at 12:30am Saturday morning and drove to Provo. I love a good late night random roadtrip. We ended up going to Lagoon on Saturday for SUU Day at Lagoon and it was just the PERFECT day. Going into it I only knew two of the people besides me but we just had a way solid group and it was wonderful. I love when the Lord weaves people into your life.

Great People Doing Great Things

So many random thoughts going through my head:

Went to Off The Cuff tonight. I'm not one of those people who go every Friday but every once in a while, I love it. Tonight I was only about 60% there mentally because I was just thinking about how seriously amazing they are.

Five SUU students started it in January of 2004 and I don't think they could have ever imagined where it would go. They've had over 50 players come and go, venues have changed, and with everything they've became stronger. They've competed at National Improv Festivals, toured around the western US, and trained with some of the best in the world. And in September they're opening their own space! Maybe I get excited because I know the lack of great programming space in Cedar, but mostly because I'm so excited at how far these awesome people, SUU Alumni no less, have come.

Next thought, we had 14 dancers from SUU's own dance department spend three months this summer in China helping to produce the ballet "The Dream of Helen," about Cedar native Helen Foster Snow. Our dancers came home yesterday and I saw one at OTC, she just ... glowed talking about her experience. You know when you talk to someone who has had a literal life changing experience and you can just tell by their countenance? That's how she was. And that's how everyone I've talked to who saw or was a part of the performance was. I'm so proud of our students and can't wait to hear more about their experience.

Last thought, tonight I met Winthrop Paroo aka Zion Smith. If you haven't seen The Music Man at the Utah Shakespeare Festival this summer, get with the picture!! Winthrop steals the show. I got the chance to talk with Zion and OTC and he's just this great twelve year old boy, who of course made me miss Michael, who loved watching OTC. He just had this immense look of JOY on his face. You know he'll remember tonight for a long time. He's 12, acting in the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and has a 1000 more dreams. Great people doing great things.

Creativity

Do you ever have one of those nights where you plan nothing special yet it's just perfect? On a whim I went to Park Discovery with Jenna and Mikey Tuesday night, the music on the way put us in the BEST mood before we even got there. Once we were in the park Mikey and Jenna were pretending to be on a safari, then we were piarates, then we were on a plane, then a space ship...all different accents, all different story lines. Hup Hup. I felt like a third grader and that's when I remembered, I never did this kind of stuff as a child. Jenna made it clear that not participating was not an option and I didn't even know how to join so I just followed their lead. I struggle when it comes to being creative. Me and Calvin are one in the same.

I'm that girl who wrote EVERY paper the night before. I've always said their are two different types of event planners: the visionaries and the producers. I'm a producer, I don't have big visions, but you better believe I can get wherever is envisioned and I fine tune everything along the way. But here is my question to you people now, can you develop creativity? I feel like the 12 followers of this blog are pretty dang creative people and I'd love your input. I think more creativeness can only help my event management skills but where do I get it?

I have a life plan!!!!! (kinda)

I'm moving home. Neither of my job interviews led to a job, although I did get some really great feedback from Norwich University. Thus on August 10th(ish) I am moving back to El Centro, California, where I was raised. I had every intention of moving home my first summer but 5 years later it just never happened, and now it's time. I need time to regroup and figure out a life plan. My little brother is starting Jr High this fall and I want to be there for him, he's a big deal. I'm going to try and substitute teach while I'm home and just continue to apply for jobs. Anyone who has ever been to El Centro is thinking "Why on earth would she move back mid-August?" It's the absolutely most disgusting time of the year. But it feels right, and I haven't had that feeling in a long time. So to help my positive outlook I want to share with you some of my favorite things about El Centro.

Let's start with the basics: location.

Fun Facts:

-We are the largest city in the country completely below Sea Level.

-2 hours from San Diego.

-10 miles from Mexico.

-4 hours from Mesa, AZ, home of Cody Noel Alderson and Katie Elizabeth Hawkes.

The Courthouse is my absolute favorite place in El Centro, hands down. It's gorgeous, and I have so many great memories there.

The Blue Angels train at our Navy Base for 3 months out of the year and we get to watch all the time.

The Sand Dunes we have are the biggest in the country and completely mesmerizing.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming.....

The End of an Era

I remember walking out of the book fair at Desert Gardens Elementary School with Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. I didn't like books about witches and wizards and dragons but my arch nemisis was reading them and thus I had to be up to date. I finished the first two books in three days and it killed me that I couldn't go out on Sunday to buy the 3rd. You better believe that as soon as Costco was open on Monday morning I made sure I was there with my mom. I got the 4th book at midnight at 5th Avenue Books in El Centro. The 5th book came out the day after my oldest brother left for his mission and I can't begin to describe the comfort it brought. I have memories of sitting in the Juniper lobby after the 6th book came out talking about whether Snape really was good or not. And then the last book came out. It came out the day I was supposed to drive to Santa Barbara from Cedar for EFY and I took a day off my Cedar job to get to Santa Barbara a day early so I could have all weekend to read before EFY. I got to the prologue right as the fireside started and afterwards I just couldn't read it. I couldn't let the end happen. I waited a week to read the prologue. And when it was over, I knew I still had years to come with the movies.

This past weekend the last movie came out in the Harry Potter Series and it was a a bitter sweet moment. The last part of a story that defined my childhood coming out the summer I graduate college, kind of poetic right? It was a beautiful cinematic experience. That moment that Professor McGonagall starts arming the castle? Chills all over my body and tears welling in my eyes. Some other thoughts about the movie:

-Draco's mom? So tender. I love the overall theme of great mothers in general throughout the series. The love of Harry's mom being what saved him? Mrs Weasley is the ultimate mom, I would love to be her when I grow up.

-The sweet guards that come alive at the end? Were those in the book?

-Neville Longbottom, I am IN LOVE with him!!! Is it too much for my first son's name to be Neville?

-Ginny Weasley as a grownup reminds a lot of Dana Savage.

-Coincidence that Harry's initials are HP? I think not.

-I've always loved the message of good vs evil that this series has taught people and I was reading other people's thoughts online. Someone brought up that the name of Kings Cross Station might be a Christianity reference. So that last scene between Dumbledore and Harry in the glowing white Kings Cross Station had a little more depth the second time.

Because yes I have seen it twice in the last 5 days since it's been out.