It's cold.

Today I feel like a real Northwesterner. I have on my boots, my warm sweater, and my trench coat. I'm armed with an umbrella in my bag (but I probably won't really use it, it's looked down upon my the real Seattlites so I hear), and I am sitting at a small coffee shop sipping my caffe latte that, yes, was adorned with latte art before I swirled it all up.

It's suddenly become winter here. I'm not really sure how that happened. It was so incredibly nice from the time we got here until middle of October. Now, the majority of the past week has been cold and rainy and there is no reprieve in the forecast until Wednesday. The good thing is that people here seem to fight this. They live with it with grace, enjoying the excuse to stay inside for a bit, spend time in coffee shops, art galleries, and pubs. I don't mind it, I guess. As long as the snow stays away, I can handle the gloom. And I can definitely handle it is it means I get to drink the best coffee in the world. I read a really interesting article the other week about the history of coffee in Seattle. Maybe I'll tell you about it later on this week.

Today I want to talk about homeless people. This weather really has me thinking... where do they go? We have a park right next to our apartment where a lot of homeless people gather. In nice weather, they would be out there soaking up the sun, talking and playing music, and even playing hacky sack with some teenagers who came by. It seems to us that homeless people here are not treated so much as the "other" as they might be elsewhere. You see little things like police chatting with them, parents bringing there kids to the park to play in the water fountain even though there are tons of homeless, and people chatting with them if their dog wanders up and they start to pet it and make friends. It's a friendly environment that I must say I did not expect. Everywhere else I have been, I see homeless people begging and the people around them actually going out of their way to ignore them.

I've learned from a friend that Seattle has some of the best programs for the homeless in the whole country, so homeless people actually flock to Seattle to seek the benefits. We see them everywhere because it is relatively easy to be homeless in this city.  You see low-income housing projects going on everywhere, food pantries galore, and churches that also act as shelters. This is not to say that the homeless problem is solved in this city. I'm sure I don't know the half of it.

But what I do know and love is that the homeless people in our neighborhood aren't "scary" like you may think of others you encounter in big cities. We see the same people everyday. It's almost like a community of homeless out here. One thing that I think is really great is this newspaper called "Real Change," which homeless people contribute to, but it is run as a way for them to make income. They purchase each paper for 25 cents and sell it for a dollar, keeping the difference. It comes out once a week, and we make sure we buy one every Sunday on the way back from the market from this one man who is always selling it near our apartment. They always have some really great articles about aid, which catches my interest. This week we opened the issue to find a friendly face inside-- the guy we buy our paper from each week was featured as the best seller. It talked about him and how seriously he takes this work, and it made me like him even more than I did before. This man stands outside of a drug store down the street every single day. I think I have only walked that stretch once without seeing him. The article said that he worked about 45 hours a week selling papers. He treats it like a real job and understands personally that it can make "real change." I'm not sure if this man has a home or if he sleeps in the elements every night, but I do know that every single time I pass him he smiles a huge smile, calls me "ma'am" and wishes me a great day. I just saw him on the way to the coffee shop, actually, and he asked me if I wanted a paper and I told him I got one yesterday and saw him in it! He smiled and blushed a little and said "Oh, that's true. Thank you, ma'am. Have a wonderful day."

I realize more and more how sheltered I was growing up in the suburbs. I didn't encounter homelessness and poverty every day. Not that it wasn't there-- it was just hidden on the other side of the tracks. Are we going out of our way to ignore the reality of what is happening to our neighbors? Are we pretending it isn't real just because we don't see it every day? I know I found it a lot easier to forget about when I didn't walk past it each day. Just this summer, when I was home in Collierville, I went to the grocery store and was approached by a man who I have seen my whole life, walking and riding his bike in the streets of our town, saying "Amen" in the middle of church services (think hard, C'ville people, and you'll know who I'm talking about). He came up to me, not recognizing me, and asked me for money. He was begging, in such a wealthy suburb. This man who I know came to both churches I attended, who knew many many wealthy people in the town. And he was asking me for any spare change. It was clear that he was not getting help that he clearly needed. But why? What's a good solution? What if, even in the suburbs where we keep poverty hidden, we gave them a way to help themselves? This newspaper, "Real Change," is doing a great thing in this city. It is giving people not only a job, but ownership of it. They are responsible for the work they do and the money they make. It gives them a way to rise up on their own and be proud of it. And rightfully so.

Yum Yum

Tonight I was super eager to cook dinner, and now it's done and sitting on the stove, and I have to wait another 15 minutes for Brian to get home. So, I will take advantage of this time to give you all the wonderful butternut squash risotto recipe because Molly (my baller friend who is in Spain on a Fulbright) requested it. I hope she makes it in her cute little Spanish kitchen.

This is a pretty simple meal, once you get the hang of it. Risotto requires constant attention, so it's not one of those meals you start and walk away from. But it only takes about 25 minutes, so it's not bad. You have to stir it constantly so get that arm ready for a workout. Making risotto is kind of an art, but you'll learn how to watch it. You know when you make regular rice, you put the water in at the beginning and the rice soaks it up? Well, with risotto, you just put the liquid in slowly throughout the cooking process and keep putting more in until the rice is done. When you are stirring and you notice that the rice is not caving back in on itself, it leaves kind of a wake where you can see the bottom of the pot, you know it's time to put in more liquid. After about 15 minutes, try a fork-ful (but be careful, I just burned my tongue doing that), and it should be still a bit firm to the bite, but not too firm, when it's done. Sounds complicated, it's really not. You can do it! (and you should. it's delicious)

Here's what you need:
Butter
Half an Onion, diced
Broccoli, cut into little pieces
Butternut Squash (you can buy this already cut at most grocery stores, or just get a small-ish one and cut it yourself into cubes)
1 chicken breast
1 c. Aborio rice (can be found either near regular rice or in the pasta section, it's usually in a box)
Chicken stock (roll with some low-sodium if you can find it)
Dry white wine, just 1 glass (ish)
Parmesan cheese, 1/4-1/2 c.

Alright, cut up all your veggies and chicken.

Heat your pot (you want a pot that can hold all your veggies and chicken and allow some room for a lot of stirring) on medium with a slab of butter (about 1 T or a bit less, but whatever you want). Once that is all melty and hot, toss all of your veggies and chicken in. Stir it and let it saute until the veggies are getting soft, the onion should be turning transparent, but not brown.

Pour in the Aborio rice and stir it up with everything else. Keep stirring, letting it get really hot. The rice will start turning transparent-y. Now pour in your wine and stir it so everything gets nice and covered. Keep stirring until it looks as if all the wine is soaked in.

Now comes the chicken stock. You want about a cup of it to start off with. Heat it up in the microwave (or keep a small pot of it simmering throughout this process), and pour it in. Again, keep stirring until the chicken stock is pretty much soaked up. Now repeat that with another cup of chicken stock. Keep repeating until the rice will not soak any more liquid up. The rice should be firm, but tender to the bite (from the time you put the rice in, this should take about 15-20 minutes).

Now take it off the heat and stir in another 1/2 tablespoon or so of butter and about a 1/4- 1/2 c of Parmesan cheese. Put the lid on the pot and let it sit off the heat for 3-5 minutes. Then serve and enjoy!

Oh, by the way, this recipe makes about 4 servings. For me and Brian, it's enough to feed both of us for a meal and have some leftover for lunch the next day!

Edge of Seventeeeeeeeeen!

If the title didn't give it away, then maybe the font shift did. But if you didn't notice that either, then I'll make it easy on you and say that this is Brian, not Katie. And I definitely love that song.

Ok, so cool things over the last few months?
I stumbled across the site hyperboleandahalf.com, which has some really hilarious posts on it. And the real reason I mention it is because I have a bad habit of reading it while my classmates are doing homework around me. Which of course means I am crying/laughing hysterically and shaking from trying to suppress the noise while they pour over the intricacies of advanced thermodynamics and theoretical math. It's been a scene several times already. Also, my fellow students have begun to realize that I burst in to song/dance at almost any opportunity. (it was really awkward at first, but I think it's growing on them)

Funny thing #2. It's always sunny in philadelphia.
Now, if you watch just a few episodes you might not find it very funny, cuz they are definitely horrible, horrible people. But if you watch such great episodes as The Gang buys a Boat to learn some sweet dance moves, and the episode Dee is Dating a Retarded Guy, for it's amazing music when some of the guys form a band. Man, I can't tell you how many times Katie and I have started singing those songs and doing those dances around the apartment. Get ready to be rocked if you come to visit, friends.

Yesterday, Katie and I were sitting on the couch, being all cutesy or whatever. I think she was trying to snuggle or something, but I was busy trying to recite in my head the One Ring poem from LotR. As I was dredging my memory for the exact words, an amazing idea hit me. So I immediately got up and wrote down a poem (in a facebook note) that made our job as grad students like having the different rings, and we were all 'bound in the darkness' of our labs basically. I thought it was funny (and it let me daydream about being involved in the fellowship of the ring, which was the real prize of the day) and apparently so do most of my fellow students.

Well i'm heading out, cuz Katie keeps trying to tell me things while I'm rocking 80's ballads (currently Black Velvet) and writing this. So, until i get bored enough to post again folks. peace.

Oh, fall...

Ok, so I have slacked with blogging for the past  week... oops. I know I've been a disappointment to all of you who for some reason find our lives interesting :)

This weekend was super fun. We went up to Woodinville, which is a mere 30 minute drive from the city (and a beautiful drive at that). This town is a winery mecca. Me, Brian, and some of his friends from school and their wives went to Chateau Ste. Michelle, a lovely little place full of grape juice, green grass, and these guys:

We went on a tour of the winery, learned about the whole process, and then tried 3 different wines! All for $0. Good investment. After we explored, we went down the road to the Red Hook brewery, just to spice things up a bit. Brian and I are trying to be able to appreciate beer a bit more, so this was a good start. If you haven't tried Red Hook's Copper Hook beer, you are truly missing out. Go buy some. They are based here, but distribute all over the country. We also went on a tour there, tried 5 beers, and went home with a baby Red Hook glass! All for $1. Not too shabby.

Needless to say, if you come to visit us, we will have to drive up to Woodinville to explore these impressive alcohol-making arts. (Yes, I will continue to try to lure you all to the Emerald City, as if our mere presence isn't enough)

The girl gets a cupcake

I had my first big girl job interview today! Ahhhhh... that's so wonderful. Let's just all keep our fingers crossed now.... So, when I knew this interview was coming up, I had a fleeting thought that it was unfortunate I am not with my old roommate, who bought me cold stone cupcakes when I had a really tough job interview my junior year. It was really just a passing random thought. And what did Brian walk in the door with tonight? This baby:

Yum. I have a very, very good boyfriend. I think he reads my mind.

AH! I'm old!

Ahhhh... this week was my birthday. And ok, I'm not really that old, but I feel more and more like a "real" adult every year. Weird. Anyway, it was a good birthday week! Brian and I discovered a really great Thai restaurant in our own neighborhood, which is just a fantastical discovery. I also made a chocolate cake that is so rich we haven't really eaten much of it. That might have to go in the freezer. Yesterday as part of extended birthday celebration we went to the Seattle aquarium, which is awesome. They have a few different tidal pool exhibits where you can touch star fish and sea anemones and stuff. It was super cool. I like hands-on things like that. They also had an octopus, which was so cool! Did you know that those things can get up to 400 pounds?! That's insane! This one wasn't nearly that big, but he was still really cool. Our favorite thing, though, was probably the sea otters. We watched them for like 20 minutes. They were so adorable and playful and fun. They have it set up really well, too, where you can see them very well and they are pretty close to you. It was super fun.

Today we went to the farmer's market again. Wonderful, again. Of course we had our traditional chocolate bars... Brian had chocolate chardonnay and I had mocha mousse. They were both fantastic. Mmmmm... I know you care a lot about that little tidbit. Oh! And I almost forgot to tell you... There were these Moorish dancers at the farmer's market today. They had bells attached to their legs and waved around sticks and cloth and were hilariously awesome. Anywho, here's some pictures from our week...

Finished and hung painting! I like it a lot.

Before the birthday dinner.

This week's flower choice. Love the dahlias.

Our song is the slam of screen doors...

Yep, I'm jammin to Taylor Swift as I write this. Don't judge.

Exciting tid bit-- I was sitting here yesterday in the apartment and got a call from an "unknown" number. I answer it to hear a very foreign but oh so familiar sounding "Hello? Hello?" It was my friend Christian from Ghana! After I left Ghana he called me every couple of months or so to see how things were, but I hadn't heard from him since February, so this was quite the pleasant surprise. I was glad to hear that he and his family are doing well. He told me that he was at a "station" in Ho, which means he was essentially at a bus-stop in this town that we went to quite a bit when I was there. It's so odd how the most random event can completely transport you back to another place and time. All of a sudden in my mind, I was walking down the dusty streets of Ho, admiring the batik fabric at the shops and sweating out all the liquid contents of my body while my shoulders crisped in the sun making awesome back pack tan lines (my friends and I were convinced Ho was the center of the earth). I cannot believe that it was two years ago that I called Ghana home. Every time a memory hits me like that I have to fight the sadness pretty hard. It was such an adventurous, fun time in my life. And those Ghanaians are the sweetest people on the face of the planet in my book. I would love to hear the melodious sound of a Ghanaian laugh again. Anywho, that's my little jaunt down memory lane. It was great to hear from an old friend and so wonderful to think of all the adventures I had there and continue to have here. Moving on...

Brian is at school, and I'm starting to get a wee bit bored with all my free time... But, don't fret. I have had another project to keep me occupied. I am currently working on the final steps of this one, which is just applying varnish. Varnish! This is a new discovery for me, and honestly, it makes me want to go back and re-do every painting I've ever done. How did I not know about varnish before? I guess there's always more to learn. Anyway, it's nothing super exciting, but it does prevent the painting from yellowing and adds a nice glossy finish. It does, however, make it difficult to take pictures without a glare, so I took these before I added the varnish. After I put on another layer and let them dry, these lovelies will go above the bed. Hopefully then it will actually looks like people live in that room. It's a tad bare.

Do you like it? We think of it as wind and fire... It was fun to do. I'm really enjoying keeping some of my artwork--usually I just give it all away, so this is a nice change! If you feel the hankering for a Katie Strickland original in your very own living room, give me a hollar. I've got lots of time. And yours will include varnish :)

It's the simple things

I really don't have a whole lot to blog about, but I thought I'd share some simple joys with ya'll... One is that I am currently sitting at my desk with these by my side:

Brian started school last week, so he's getting busier, but we squeezed in some time for a picnic at the Locks and some good 'ole pumkin decorating...

Can you guess who's who?

Hope you have had a good Sunday! And I'm sorry if it hasn't included espresso ice cream bars and fresh salmon straight off the boat like ours has. :)