Archive for 2009

uh...hello...

That last blog is so OLD! He's all creaky 'n stuff.

Anyway, I uploaded pictures from my phone onto the computer today, and I wanted to share this one:


That's some leftover Oven-Roasted Veggies that I warmed up in my skillet then added an egg and some shredded cheddar to...:L It was SO GOOD!! I highly recommend it.

So as my blog today I decided to share the recipe I've modified from my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook for Oven-Roasted Veggies (they're way good with meatloaf, nut patties, what-have-you...but I'd make them just to have them for breakfast again any day!)

OVEN ROASTED VEGGIETABLES
3 medium potatoes (1 pound), scrubbed and cut into 1" pieces
1 medium turnip, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 medium onion cut into wedges and separated
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon oregano
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder...I sorta just sprinkle a generous amount in when I don't have garlic handy)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips then halved

Combine all ingredients except pepper in a 9x13" pan. Bake, covered, at 325 for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through. Turn the oven up to 450, uncover and add the peppers, and bake for an additional 20 minutes (stirring once.) Makes 6 side-dish servings.

little goodies

Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.
-Ellen Goodman (Found on my friend Audrey's blog.)

I like a quote that makes me go "huh, they're right..." or at least makes me stop and think for a minute. Our consumerism fuels itself. Want want want want want want want... I mean, there are definitely needs in there that we must find ways to meet, but the very core needs most of us have--food, water, shelter, love--don't demand the excess the majority of our society enjoys.

Also, after researching to see if the above quote was accurate, I found this one by the same columnist:

We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck... But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness.
-Ellen Goodman

I remember learning somewhere (probably in Relief Society) that the root of all Christ-like love is gratitude. That's stayed with me, and when I'm feeling obstinate about someone or something, if I get myself to start thinking about what I'm grateful for in regards to that person or thing, I almost always feel my heart soften. Truly, I have a lot to be grateful for. Most Americans do.

So, as a random bonus, here are a few things I'm grateful for today:

  • Cody <3
  • Air conditioning
  • Trying out new restaurants
  • Computers
  • INTERNET! (I have friends if I have the internet!)
  • Truffle's muffled sleep barking
  • Finding new songs or artists to enjoy
  • Chocolate
  • Good lotion
  • Learning new things
  • Juan texting me weird pictures or things that make me laugh
  • People that plant too many squash/tomato/cucumber plants and want to give away the deliciousness
  • My family
  • Mazda3s...and driving them...
  • Getting to talk to Adneisha; she has this way of making me feel useful, important, and loved
  • My new mascara, it's awesome
So, friend/family member/person I haven't met, what are you grateful for today?

run! you might get....oh, you're tagged.

Another tag, this time I stole it from Missy. :3

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yupyup, but not until after high school. My only boyfriend before Cody (Aaron Croft, who I dated an astounding week or two in college) was also a ram.

2. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't really drive much in high school. Sorry, Evany, Mark, Kristin, Anna, Steph...and whoever else toted me around.

3. Were you a party animal? Yes. I was like a party sloth, always asleep and at home and not cool enough for parties.

4. Were you considered a flirt? ...maybe? I remember something about a date with Mark that turned into me flirting with Brock, who was Evany's date. That was bad, I'm sorry Ev. Also, Rich only asked me to homecoming because I was very animated in talking to him. I wasn't really flirting, just talking and probably teasing; but my friends seemed to think I was madly in love with him because of it.

5. Were you in band, orchestra or choir? Choir for 3 or 4 years. I can't remember if I was in Slaglebaby's class as a Frosh.

6. Were you a nerd? Ummm...there're definitely smarter people than me, but I was always taking the honors classes and such, and I'm pretty much a dork. I'm gonna go with yes.

7. Were you on any varsity teams? Negatory.

8. Can you still sing the fight song? I don't even know if we had a fight song. I can still do the pep club cheer to the school song, though.

9. Who were your favorite teachers? CORSI! for Concurrent Math and AP AB Calc, Southam for English, Slagle for Choir, Bee for Drafting, and I enjoyed Atiya for Physics and Minkley for AP BC Calc (even though I hated the subjects.)

10. Where did you sit during lunch? Right by the science wing, outside of Dr. Atiya's room. I think we sat there almost all 4 years.

11. What was your school's full name? Highland High

12. What was your school's mascot? RAM!

13. Did you go to homecoming and who with? Yes, Squashmore year I went with Richard Christiansen for my first date EVAR, and it was awesome. Junior year Cory Heintz asked me, and that was really fun too. :3 That was a fun group of guys to be friends with.

14. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No. High school's over and I like it that way.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? All the very loud screams from some classmates' families. >_< STOP SCREAMING, it's only making the horribly long ceremony even longer and even less fun.

16. Where did you go Senior Skip Day? Hahaha, I skipped with Steph and Amy (a couple of Juniors) and we went down to 15th and 15th to Einstein's, then we went to Orchard Street Market and got fresh pineapple, then took it back to Slagle's classroom and ate it there. Slagle was the only one that didn't mind her seniors actually skipping, if I remember right. And Steph's right. Most of the stuff I ever plan, socially, involves food.

17. Were you in any clubs? French Club, it was just an excuse to eat elcaires and baguettes with Nutella and Brie.

18. Have you gained some weight since then? Yush. I dunno how many people actually stay the same size that they were in high school...

19. Who was your prom date? Matthew Croft, but it turned a little awkward because we found out we're like 3rd cousins or something like that on the date.

20. What did your dress/tux look like? It was white, with cap sleeves. Kinda boring, but I still like how Rebecca and I did my hair, with little roses and twists. I wish I could figure out how to do stuff like that on my own.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Pfft. Reunions.

22. Did you have a high school job and what was it? I worked at Hale Bakery from just before high school until just before college, and I love the girls I worked with. "If you wanna be my dustpan, you gotta get on the floor..." (sung to "Wannabe" by Spice Girls) I miss sitting in the walk-in fridge and eating Parfait cookies with whipped cream...

crentist the dentist


I think I'm in love with my dentist.

No...I'm not going to leave Cody and join the circus only to return to Lehi and try to propose to my dentist (Dr. Groneman in American Fork) while he's performing a root canal on one of my molars.

It's not that kind of love.

The love I have for my dentist is based on his excellent care of my teeth with his weird water pic method of cleaning (also, he flosses my teeth! Shouldn't I be doing that?), and that he often compliments my teeth. "You have good teeth," he says. I blush. I do have good teeth! Thanks for noticing, Dentist Man! (And thank you for the teeth, Mom and Dad!) "No cavities," he says. "Nice work." I smile. See what I mean about the compliments? He knows how to make a person feel good about her mouth.

Also, he has a superb memory...it almost seems like he and his assistants keep notes on Cody and me somewhere with our dental records. Do they? I might have to write them an anonymous letter or do some sleuthing while they're out to lunch, because it's uncanny how well they remember minute details about us. He and his assistants always ask follow-up questions to conversations we've had 6 months ago at our previous appointment! How do they do that? I really want to know. Is it because we have extremely odd tastes and stick out that much? I don't really think we're *that* odd, but maybe we are. I dunno.

Aubrey, his main assistant, is always asking about our family and jobs and interests, and this last appointment she wasn't the one helping me--but she did tell the girl who was assisting "I like Ruthie, she's cute," after just seeing my face through the door. How does she remember every patient's name?! Seriously. We've only been going to Dr. Groneman's office for the past 2 years, so we've only seen these people 3 or 4 times.

Even though Dr. Groneman and his assistants are extremely chatty and sociable, they're also happy to hand over a remote and let you watch tv while they take care of your routine oral hygiene needs. I've watched Pokemon and the Food Network while having a cavity filled. The Food Network might not be the best thing to watch when you can't eat for a few hours, but it's definitely on my list of favorite channels I don't have at home...so...it gets watched.

So anyway, back to talk of dentistry...if anybody's in or around Utah County and wants a great dental experience, go to my dentist! He's awesome!

(Disclaimer: Ruthie was not payed [much] to write nice things about her dentist.)

cruisin' usa...and canada!!

Cody and I were lucky enough to go on a vacation with his family this past week, first to California for a few days and then on a cruise from LA to San Francisco, Victoria (in British Colombia, Canada--w00t!!), Seattle, then back to LA.

Our boat, the Royal Caribbean Mariner. I heard it was the biggest cruise ship on the ocean, with an ice skating rink, 14 decks, a rock climbing wall, inline skating rink, miniature golf...blah blah blah...but I'm not sure and I'm too lazy to factcheck.
Our stateroom, which was small but very well planned. It seemed a lot bigger than it was and had places for everything, although I'm not sure how we survived the 2003 cruise with the Higbees with 5 of us in one stateroom.
The promenade deck, with all the shops. This is deck 5, 9 decks below the top deck.
Our first stop was San Francisco. Cody and I opted out of all the planned cruise tours because none of them sounded that interesting, and we wanted to explore the cities on our own terms. The first thing we did once we got to port--besides text like mad--was to check on E3 (video game convention in LA) news for Cody, then we dropped off the laptop and headed out to play.

Smartcar, parked smartly.

Cody in front of Viz Media's building in San Francisco. Viz Media's in charge of a few anime's English dubs, so although we mostly watch the Japanese dub with English subtitles, it was still cool to see something we could be nerdy about.
I thought this building was interesting.
I got some rose gelato and snarfed it down without a picture, although it tasted delicious and was very interesting. Then, we found this awesome little candy store that had metal lunchboxes, strange video game candy, and practical joke stuff.
I totally bought some awesome bandaids there. Oh, and the dude that worked the counter (I think he might've been gay, but my gaydar's so off I don't trust it) asked me what designer my shirt was, and I told him it was a very exclusive place called the Gap Outlet. XD
The dining room was amazing, with three full floors and crystal chandeliers everywhere. Our waiter and waitress were fabulous, telling us all about their lives before cruising, and seeming to dislike waiting tables immensely while taking excellent care of us. It was rather ironic, but they definitely earned their keep. I hope they get to live some of the life they were talking about.
The food was pretty good, although I missed our home cooking...but my favorite was when the chef would make a jaunty statement with a bunch of herbs.
Us'ns
Richard was in love with the buffet for breakfast, and below is a picture of his favorite things there. The formal dining room always takes so much longer that it was hard to justify going there for every meal, especially when the food wasn't that much better, but the portion control the dining room offered was much more convenient than having to wait an hour for food. ^_^
Waiting for food was always better when I brought along my top.
My homey away from home.
Cody got inked! Fake inked! With glow-in-the-darkness stuff!

Dragon's Lair...there were so many hidden little bars, clubs, restaurants, theaters, etc. on our boat that I don't think I saw it all completely.
CANADA! Here are some Canadian superheroes, Brave Beaver:
and Mighty Moose:
Cheesecake on a steeeek in Victoria.
The red lights were ginormous in Victoria. I'm not sure why. It was worth me taking a picture, apparently.
The public works building had an interesting sculpture outside the library.
The library in Victoria. Cody's obsessed with libraries, just in case you didn't know.

SEATTLE! This was maybe my favorite city to see, least favorite city to walk around in. The hills were worse than in San Fran! It was probably just the path we chose to take, but still. >_> onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrTudoV003fn9dQp2d65eELwEPF2OJs4LWr8D93gHIEEfnSOS5tRHpN3Hz4zF1tLjNDSqYMYcqFmeUXyPErO27dHkPEJxGjflhkrM9ZbXe94uaQ0xvKBmpxdKmc5fclGTPdCPeiIHPUWtt/s1600-h/Cody's+Phone+%289%29.jpg">Richard imitating the statue:
While we were in Seattle, we met another friend from the anime forums named Thomas (SsriTelQuessir or ST'Q to anyone familiar with the tv.com Bleach Forum.) We had a load of fun hanging out with him, seeing MUPPETS! and eating delicious curry. I was glad he took time out of his busy schedule to come and meet us. Here's Cody and Thomas at the Seattle SciFi museum:
Me playing with Animal on the drums:
Some dude was playing a flute! He was pretty good, too.

Cody and I attempting to look like nerds. I was disappointed when I saw that we didn't look much different from normal...
Rawrs! Kids attacked him with chalk, so he wasn't so fierce.


Nevermore?
Random Batman tattoo sighting on the Seattle monorail.
Seattle public library, main branch.



Us! In Seattle! We're happy!!
I thought this was intriguing. A whole park just for 1st Amendment rights! w00t!
Back on the ship, we played games. Tycee totally owned at Monopoly, despite her niceness and attempts to help people out.
Our bed had curtains, and Cody is always wont to be silly around unusual things...
The cruise ship had artwork/sculptures on every single landing on both sets of stairs. This was my favorite, kitchen utensils made entirely of aluminum wire:

Cody winning a medal for beating little girls at Wii Tennis in a family tournament. XD

Dragon! On ice! It's the new Disney ice show, y'all.
I played Bananagrams by myself a lot...I think some of those words are wrong, too. I wasn't too hard on myself when judging.
And...well, that's all. We had a lot of fun, and I'm so glad we got to go...but it's SO GOOD to be home!