cookies. really good cookies.

i have a go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

but i tried a different recipe today for a crunchier cookie.

and it was delicious.

i think the secret was to let them crisp up on the cooling rack. 

you get this yummy chewy centers and delightfully crispy edges!

i think i have eaten four already.

adapted from a recipe in Jamie's Food Revolution

makes about 24 cookies.

unless you eat lots of the dough, like me. 

9 tbs butter

1/2 cup superfine white sugar (i just throw my regular sugar in our magic bullet and viola!)

1/4 cup brown sugar 

1 tbs flaxseed & 3 tbs water (mix together and let sit for a few minutes. it's a healthier substitute for egg)

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup oatmeal

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips (or however much you like)

Soften the butter. Mix the sugars and the butter until you get a creamy consistency. Add the flaxseed/water. Mix until the flaxseed is blended. Slowly add the flour. Then add the oats, baking powder, and salt. Fold the chocolate chips in.

Transfer dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll it in sausage shape. Leave the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. (And clean the kitchen during this time! That way, when the cookies are ready, you can enjoy them...and not worry about the mess)

Preheat oven to 375. Cut your chilled dough in slices and arrange them on two baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes (mine took 12 minutes). Let them cool slightly on the cookie sheets, then transfer them to a cooling rack.

then, eat as many as you want! 

the flaxseed cancels out the ridiculous amount of butter...

picture from here.

seeking employment.

i have sent out a zillion emails and resumes in the last week

and i hung out at the local college's career center this morning

and i have submitted my resume to another zillion job sites this afternoon.

...and no responses.

so it got me thinking.

how long does it usually take to hear back?

is craigslist really a good option?

(i.e. will i ever hear back from jobs i heard about through craigslist)

and

does anyone out there know of jobs in glendale, az in need of ...me?

tutoring and teaching in taiwan. 

p.s. we are dancing in the last photo...

even though it might look like the kids are running from me.

arizona

so i arrived in az last week

but i have been super busy

with the whole move-in process.

who knew it took so long! 

it has been quite amusing trying to reconcile me and mister c's tastes...

they are surprisingly different. 

here are some photos of the disaster

err...our home.
more later!

secrets

this came on just now on pandora,

as i attempt to study.

i stopped.

listened hard.

and felt so alive!

how beautiful is this song?

it is better without the video.

try to listen to it with your eyes closed.

i dare you!

new year resolution

so with summer winding to an end and my BYU career almost over,

i have been reflecting.

since j and i got engaged,

i have been significantly more unhealthy than i had been in a long time.

i explained to my friend today that being healthy and being thrifty are sometimes hard things. 

but i am making a new resolution

to go along with my new home, school, and job 

(oh wait, i don't have a job yet!)

and that is to be more healthy...

like really healthy.

so my first baby step is to eat more veggies.

i will let you know how it goes.

picture from here

man was not meant to be alone

With the help of my father in law we moved everything down to AZ. 

After we unpacked I realized we forgot one important thing---my wife! 

I consider myself a pioneer of sorts...

setting up the new apartment, sleeping on the floor, taking cold showers. 

With a week of medical school orientation done,
 I am ready for my wife to join me.

In the meantime I have made this my companion...our new gym.

                                       image was taken from http://www.mark-taylor.com/properties_photogallery/sanprado_pop7.htm

isn't nesting for birds?

so i am anxiously waiting to get to az

so i can start nesting.

but i have one problem--

i have no clue how to nest.

i don't even know where to start!

any ideas for home decorating?

(on a very small budget)

i am liking these rooms...

but it is not absolutely "us"

which is the problem that i keep running into

i think i don't even know what "us" style is!

maybe a combo of the two??

so...then how can i rationalize buying anything

when i don't even know if it's right!

do i sound a little crazy?

anxious?

weird?

well, it's because i am. 

at least, for right now. 

i call it nest-phobia.

photos from here and here

rain rain

i have not been in this much rain since taiwan! 

it is so fun.

reminded me of this day in little hualien

when it started pouring at church

and wouldn't stop.

so we got creative

in an attempt to stay dry!

fashionably fashioned raincoats 

made from stolen church trash bags

may 2009

more taiwan adventures on staceymork.blogspot.com

and on definingamy.blogspot.com

thunderstorms

on my way to school, the sky looked like this.

then it started thundering.

and then it rained.

and i got really wet.

now, i am (still) terrified of thunderstorms

so walking to school with one overhead was not my idea of fun

and i cursed the rain as it came down.

then i realized i had been hoping for some relief from the heat

and that i should be grateful for the rain.

so then, i decided to be happy about it.

what a difference a little decision like that can make!

picture from eyetothesky

water bottles.

okay so i used to have a sigg

and it was a glorious thing. 

one day, i put it in the freezer 

(to chill it)

and forgot it.

i came home and...

it had popped open.

aka dead sigg.

so now i am drinking 

out of an plastic water bottle.

on the side of the bottle, 

it has this blurb about "being green" 

& how eco-friendly they are.

BUT WAIT!

if they really wanted to be green...

wouldn't they just ditch their business

and encourage everyone to buy reuseable bottles?

just saying....

that is all.

i am going to buy a sigg.

soon.