Awesome Roommates

Best roommate award to Carrie, who made me Peach Mint Strawberry (PMS) tea to get me through my PMS day. =)

I'm seriously blessed!

Biking to Banjo

So, my July hobby has had some identity issues. I started out the month with the intention of having biking as my hobby. I secured a helmet from my brother-in-law, and a bike pump from my neighbors (they had an extra) and set off to conquer the world! ...Except for that my front tire won't stay full, even right after pumping it up. =(

Then I had some roommates move in! And with those roommates came many instruments. As such, my hobby for the second half of the month is the banjo!

Here are two videos of my first attempts, mostly so I can look back later and see how I've progressed. Don't mind my pajamas and bed hair - I just got up. =P

Ask

I listened to a podcast that got me thinking (Hidden Brain, episode "WOOP, There It Is"). You think about your Wish, the best possible Outcome, the Obstacles within yourself that are blocking you, and create a Plan for when those obstacles arise. There's more to it, but that's the general overview. I love learning about goals and how to make effective ones, so this was really interesting to me! 

I realized that at least for me and my current stage, the obstacle is that I'm afraid to ask. Afraid to ask people to form a bluegrass group with me. Afraid to ask the guy that I'm attracted to on a date. Afraid to invite people to do things that I want to do. All because I'm assuming that no one will want to do these things, and I don't want to look dumb asking. 

So my plan is to ask anyway, and keep my mind open to the possibility they might be excited, maybe even as excited as I am. And if they say no, I won't be worse off. I'll just be in the same place I am now - without the bluegrass band, without the date with the specific person I like, without the specific social gathering I want - but a little braver. 

Keepin' It Real

Lest you think I'm always happy and optimistic, some nights I'm too sunburnt, sad, bitter, and discouraged to fall asleep. 

There's a balance in life, and even though I like to focus on the positive side, the negative side does exist. 

Now comes the challenge of choosing Hope, in the midst of discouragement. 

One of the Most Wonderful Times of the Year

I made it through my second/final week of swimming lessons, and it was great! Swimming is hard work. Cycling between thoughts of chest down, hips up, small kicks, stretch arms forward, on my side, getting my left arm out of the water (I had the tendency to drag it), hooking the water, and of course breathing at the right time without getting my mouth full of water... It's a lot to coordinate!

But here's the promised good news! Last Thursday, I swam a whole lap (50 meters) without stopping! Then, after resting (and a few unsuccessful attempts), I did it two more times! In addition, I did a successful flip-turn this week, and also dived. =)

I'm kind of sad that my lessons are over (though I might sign up for more lessons later in the summer), but happy about my trip home to Utah this week. I'll be home for six days to attend a family reunion, and spend time with family and friends. It will be great!

June has historically been a happy month for me each year in recent history (except maybe last year), and I'm happy that June this year has lived up to it's predecessors, so far. Though I haven't been at Logan's SummerFest, I've spent nights in the woods surrounded by fireflies. Though I haven't been on the back of a motorcycle, I've paddled 12 miles down a creek, seeing more trees than probably exist in the whole state of Utah, surrounded by friends who didn't even think twice about jumping from their canoes to help us when ours capsized. Twice. Instead of learning to run races, as I did in 2011, I've been learning to swim. And instead of painting apartments, I've been using music to help children and adults reach their goals. Instead of mini-road trips to Idaho, I've taken mini-road trips to Kentucky. All in all, I am quite happy. Even despite days like Father's Day, which happen to be surprisingly lonely when you live alone.

June, and Life, aren't perfect (and neither is my freestyle swimming!), but it doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.

June Hobby: Swimming

I chose swimming as my June hobby! I signed up for adult group lessons, and I'm now halfway through, having finished the first of two weeks. On the first day, they put me into the smaller, more advanced group, which boosted my ego. 

Until they then introduced the freestyle stroke. Freestyle made my ego free-fall! I've been trying to figure out why it is so hard, and I've got some ideas:

-I do not like having my face down in the water

-I think too hard about which side I'm supposed to breathe on, and when. 

-When I do breathe, I get water in my mouth, and then I panic. 

-I'm doing something new, and it's something with my body, so I get super self-conscious. 

-As I exert myself, I find myself needing even more oxygen, but can't seem to get enough in my short breaths to the side. 

Today I stayed after my lesson and practiced for over an hour. I learned that keeping my eyes open (I have goggles) helps decrease the panic. Everything else is not easy to fix, I just need to keep practicing. 

On the bright side, I am REALLY good at the backstroke (at least in comparison!). 

My happy news: I bought a new swimsuit today. I finally got one that ties behind my neck, which I've wanted for a long time. No more gym shorts and running shirts when I swim! I'm going to learn to be comfortable in my own skin!

I do have to say: swimming is exhausting, and I think I'm starting to lose weight faster as well, which is a nice side effect! =D

I'm liking this more than running. I like being outside, and I like the challenge of learning something new. 

Currently, my record is 25 meters freestyle without having to stop. I hope I can report back next week with either 50 or 100 meters! Stay tuned!

Sushi Made Me Cool

So, I didn't focus on sushi as consistently in May as I had hoped. However, my goal kind of morphed into all cooking. And then sewing kind of started entering in, too. I started working on one hobby, and several others just kind of started emerging from me! Which was cool.

But I wanted to report specifically on my sushi efforts. In the middle of the month I fed the missionaries in my branch. There are six: four elders and two sisters. Two of the elders were not really into sushi, but the other four missionaries enjoyed the experience. As for me, I was just happy I had pulled off a meal for seven. Me. Cooking for guests. Six of them. Big deal.

Then, yesterday, I had the sister missionaries back again, and my friend Taitum. She brought cream cheese, and I had recently bought a fresh avocado. And this time I seasoned the rice (using instructions from this site: http://makemysushi.com/Recipes/how-to-make-sushi-rice). The experience was absolutely amazing. Every bite was heaven. And it was homemade, so I could make as much as I wanted! And to make this heavenly experience even better, the three people there with me kept saying "You're so cool!" and "Ali, you're amazing!" I didn't even know how to deal with it! I'm not used to quite that much or that kind of positive reinforcement. I have felt valued in personal relationships, but it has been a while since I felt valued in a group. Anyway, having this amazing experience in my mouth and then also being surrounded by compliments... It was kinda surreal... =)

So, even though I didn't cook sushi all that frequently in the month of May, I'm still considering it a total success.

June will probably have two hobbies: swimming (my lessons start on the 6th!), and hip hop dancing (my friend Emma wants to learn with me).

Sushi - Week 1

I said I would return and report! So here I go.

I actually made sushi yesterday! I watched a few videos, then went to the store. They didn't have sushi rice, but they had jasmine rice so I got that. I also purchased siracha mayo, imitation crab (the "string cheese crab" that Sister Cho introduced me to long ago), sesame seeds, avocados, and seaweed.

Then I cooked the rice...

Put it on the seaweed...

Put the crab, spicy mayo, sesame seeds, and chia seeds (for fun), into the middle of it.

Used the aluminum foil to roll it up...

Cut it up...

And placed it on a plate with some wasabi-ish stuff and some ginger.

It was fantastic. I enjoyed every bite. =) So now comes the fun parts, in the coming weeks, where I make several variations and get really good at it. And invite people over to share it with me.

To me, the most significant part about all this is that I CAN COOK!!! I am capable of this thing. For some reason, it is a lot easier to do, now that I am alone. 

Speaking of that, living alone is kinda weird. I simultaneously love and hate it. So I just try to focus on the reasons I love it... And find plenty of reasons to socialize, since the thing I don't like about it is the gosh-darn loneliness.  Luckily I've got a great branch at church, and opportunities for meeting people outside of church also. Life may be uncomfortable at the moment, but that's because it's a beginning of a new phase. Those are usually uncomfortable, but totally worth it. =)