#29 Sing a Solo

#29 Sing a Solo

I've been singing pretty much my entire life. Be it for a personal concert for my family, at age 2, singing Michael Jackson's "Beat It", singing, humming, and whistling "You Are My Sunshine" during my toddler years, singing in a performing arts choir in high school, and then singing in one of the best choirs ever (Dynamic Praise) in college. It's safe to say that I have never really "liked" my voice. I've always thought that I was a strong section member but not so much a soloist. The last time I sang a solo was in 1999 in my high school choir annual concert.

So as I was writing my list of what I wanted to do this year, I figured that I would add "singing a solo". My thoughts were that I would pretty much be safe singing a solo at the church I currently attend because it's a multi-ethnic church and the simplest singers receive good reception. (They're expectations are not that high.)

So this past Sabbath I had the opportunity to do just that...

Can't upload the video but I did see a solo. I was so nervous, my voice shook the entire song.

Painting With a Twist

#30 again...

So, I got to paint and sip again. Yipee! I was excited and I really liked this picture too.

This is what I started out with... 

Halfway done...

My completed picture...

The girls (Jevon, Kenzie, Lynette, & me) and our portraits...

The Lion King

#3 - See a Broadway Show

I've been to New York City at least five times in the last ten years and for whatever reason I have not had the opportunity to see a Broadway/Off-Broadway show. The Lion King came into Houston and for different reasons I didn't think that I was going to be able to see it. BUT all became well with the world and I was able to get a ticket.

I LOVED IT!!!! My favorite character was Rafiki. The woman who played that part had an A-MAZING voice. I was up high but not too high that I couldn't see the stage perfectly.

Not a great picture but you can see how well I saw the stage.

This is me on my way downtown to see the show.

My ticket.

Volunteer

#19 Volunteer

The church that we a currently attending has a homeless ministry. So I decided that it would be great to go and share some of my time since I have so much of it to share. The program feeds and clothes the homeless and less fortunate in its area, as well as, allow the homeless to come in and take showers and get clean. I helped in the clothing area. First, I brought 5 bags of clothes/shoes to donate.

All I can really say about this experience is that it was just that... an experience. It wasn't bad, it was good. It was definitely eye opening. One man that stood out to me was an older man who worked with a limp and had slurred speech; he was also slightly agitated most of the time. Being in the profession that I am in, speech therapy, my heart broke just watching him. Jackie, church member that I was working with, said that they suspected that he had suffered from a stroke. It broke my heart knowing that was probably true and also because I know that he probably did not receive any speech services to help him at all.

This is what I know... a lot of homeless people don't choose to live on the streets, a succession of bad circumstances normally puts them there. Some homeless people are also are the streets by choice because they don't want to burden family and friends. Some are homeless due to mental status and their families are unable to take care of them. And some are lazy and don't want to work. But what makes them just like the rest of us is that they desire and long for the same things that the rest of us do... Love and Respect. Sometimes we find it hard to look past their dirty bodies and clothes, and even their (sometimes) ugly attitudes, but we have to realize that they are human beings just like the rest of us. I grew up in San Francisco and there are plenty of homeless people that live on the streets there. I'm guilty of walking across the street so I don't have so smell them, walking past and not looking them in the eyes because I don't want to be asked for money. But I know this for sure I have to do a better job of making sure that I show them respect and not make them feel less human because of their current unfortunate situation.

#30 Go to a Sip & Strokes

#30 Go to a Sip & Strokes

So I've been waiting and wanting to go to Sips n Stokes. They go by many different names but the concept is the same... you get to sip your drink of choice (alcohol or not) and you get to paint. So my sister, Alyse, and I drove to Nashville for the weekend to hang out with her friend Jannyse. Jannyse is a Sips n Strokes regular. She has four paintings hanging in her apartment and she did one for Alyse for her house (gave it to her as her house warming gift). Anyway, Alyse told Jannyse that going to Sips n Strokes was on my list and so reservations were made for us to go. (Alyse's other friend, Danisha, joined the party as well.)

You start off with a canvas that has a simple outline for whatever the painting is going to be.













The teacher instructs you on how to paint the entire picture. It's pretty cool. Even the least experienced artist (like my sister Alyse) can end up with an awesome picture in the end... *I suggest going with a friend (or friends). The jokes you will have are endless...* The teacher will answer any questions you have an help  you fix any mistakes.

At this point, all we've done is the background to my angel. 

I've started started giving my angel some color. The teacher had to come and help me a bit because I couldn't figure out how to highlight and shadow the face. *One of the hardest parts to painting people is mixing the right colors to get the color complexion that you want. I had a really hard time mixing.*

My finished angel... I think I'll call her "Expresso Mist".

All of us girls together. It was a fun night!

Random Dessert Post

Have you ever had a cake ball? No? You need to try it!!! I saw a recipe on red velvet cake balls (I think on pinterest) and was too excited to try it.

People say that they are easy to make... and they are; they're just a labor of love for me because of the time it takes to make them.

These beginning and middle pictures were taken by the person who's blog I got the recipe from. The finished product picture is mine.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

• 1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) 
• 1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.) 
• 1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate) - I used meltable white chocolate (bark or morsels) -
• wax paper

Instructions

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)
I also only melt a few pieces of chocolate bark at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot.

My finished product. And it is YUMMY to my TUMMY!!!!

#15 - Baking 3 new desserts from scratch

#15 - Part 2

So I LOVE LOVE LOVE red velvet cake, cupcakes, and cake balls (see next post), so when I saw red velvet brownies on Pinterest, I thought "why not?".

I wasn't so happy with the out come but hubby and my co-workers seemed to love it. Berto even took it to work and his two employees liked it too.

It wasn't moist enough for me. But maybe you'll like it.

Red Velvet Brownies
adapted from Smells like Home

1 cup  unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 oz red food coloring (optional)
4 tsp pure vanilla extract, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour an 9 X 13 baking pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then stir in food coloring and vanilla. Mix flour, cocoa and salt in a separate bowl.  Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix on medium-low speed, just until combined.  Do not over mix.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir up the batter with a rubber spatula once or twice just to ensure all of the flour has incorporated from the sides of the bowl and there isn’t anything stuck on the bottom of the bowl.  You’ll want one uniformly colored (red) batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the brownies.  Set aside to cool, cut into bars and serve.

#15 - Baking 3 desserts from scratch

#15- Part 1

So school kept me very busy this last semester. But I managed to get some baking in. From scratch and not so scratch.

First one up... I went to www.allrecipes.com to get a recipe for bread pudding.
It is called 'Gramma's Apple Bread Pudding'. I made it for sabbath dinner (dessert). I felt like I baked it too long because the top came out a little crispy. But... it was gone in 30 minutes. I didn't get a after picture because I forgot to take one and by the time I remembered only 25% of it was left in the dish.

I diced the apples for mine and I used golden raisins.

I used about 1/2 a bag of Nature's Own Honey Wheat Bread.



 

 Added the golden raisins. If you like raisins, you could probably add more. I don't care too much for them in my food so I just used what was suggested.
 

 I used 2 granny smith and 2 fuji apples.

 This is what is looked like before I put it in the oven.

 *It looked delish before I even put it in the oven.*

Ingredients

• PUDDING
• 4 cups soft bread cubes
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 2 cups peeled and sliced apples
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, beaten
•  
• VANILLA SAUCE
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine bread, raisins, and apples. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 3/4 cups milk, and 1/4 cup margarine. Cook and stir until margarine is melted. Pour over bread mixture in bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs. Pour bread mixture into prepared dish, and pour egg mixture over bread.
4. Bake in preheated oven 40 to 50 minutes, or until center is set and apples are tender. *(I'd suggest baking it for at least 1 hour. But monitor it after 50 minutes.)
5. While pudding is baking, mix together sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 cup margarine in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Serve over bread pudding.

#7 Go Natural

#7 Go Natural

So going natural has been more of an emotional experience then I had planned for.  My plan was to just go through transition with sew-ins and braids, hopefully being close to completely natural by the end of the year. I contemplated doing the big chop (with much encouragement from some people that I know) but my beautician kept talking me out of it. I can't lie, I was happy that she kept doing it. It kept me from facing a couple of my own fears.

As what normally happens in my life... things did NOT go as planned. I will spare you the details of what happened, merely to save myself embarrassment. But the end product is me doing The Big Chop.

When I made the final decision to do it, I let my beautician know that I was confident in my decision and that I wasn't going to change it.  Driving to the shop I was ready to turn around and cancel the entire ride. Part of me was terrified and the other part of me kept telling me to stop being a punk.

Tesha, my beautician, went about washing a coloring my hair. It was time for the cut. I could feel her and the scissors the entire time. She finally turned me towards the mirror and I thought that I was going to... pass out, cry, vomit, run. I was so depressed with what I saw. I knew that I was attached to my hair but I never knew how much until that very moment. All I kept thinking was "I look like my dad." And where my dad is not a bad looking man... I'm a girl and I just didn't see any femininity in my reflection at all. I felt bad for Tesha because she felt bad for me with my reaction.

Now I know that most of you will just say, "Erika, it's just hair." And you are right but would you chop your hair off??? I don't think that most of you would.

My husband has been amazing! He's continually trying to make sure that I know how beautiful I look without my long hair. My family, friends, and co-workers have been awesome too. My students...not so much. Most of my students have asked me to "get my long straight hair back". But some of my sweet kids told me that my hair was pretty.

It's been 12 days and I can't lie... I still am having an adjustment to seeing my reflection. But it is getting a little easier every day. My hair has even grown a little bit in the last couple of days.

A funny story to end this post: Alyse (my sister) is natural too. And our abuela told my mom that she (my mom) had one Panamanian daughter (me) and one African daughter (Alyse). Then... Ms. Gloria saw me... and she told her (my mom) that now she had 2 African daughters. All I could do is laugh. Gotta love my abuela!

Me with my silk wrap. The beginning.

In transition... with the sew-in. The plan was to rock this and braids for the rest of the year.

Washed and blow-dried.

Letting the color sit... it's supposed to be a reddish-brown.

The length that was cut off my hair.

The day after the BC. I'm still in shock and nervous about the reaction of my co-workers and students.

What my hair looks like up close and natural.

Camara (my bff) and me. Both natural girls. It's going to be a long rode to get to that length.

#13 - Horseback Riding

#13 Horseback Riding
My sister was coming for a visit Easter weekend and wanted to do something with me off of my list. She wanted to do skydiving (#6) but we just didn't have the funds for that at the time. So the next thing we looked at was horseback riding. I had already found a place to go when I first put it on my list. So I made the reservations for us to go early Friday morning.

We went to Cypress Trails to go riding. http://www.horseridingfun.com/ Our riding session was scheduled for 10am. We were early and were waiting for 3 other people who were supposed to ride with us. But after ten minutes of waiting, the people decided to get us on our horses and let us ride.
Alyse's horse was named Java. He is known to be a stubborn horse... hmmm. just like his rider. LOL. I kid.. maybe not. Anywhoo... Through the whole ride (one full hour), Java had spurts where he decided that he was just going to start running. Alyse, needless to say, was NOT a happy camper. My horses name was Teke. He was also a stubborn horse but instead of having running spurts, he would decided that he just didn't want to move anymore. And he ate EVERY chance he got. It got to the point where our guide had to hook us to him and his horse just to get Teke to start moving again.

Our guide's name was Alex. He is originally from Mexico. He's been riding horses since he was 11 years on his dad's farm. He dropped out of school in the 4th grade so that he could help his dad on the farm. He didn't say it but I got the feeling that he wished that he could have finished his schooling. He has been working on this ranch for almost 3 years. He was a pretty good guide.


All in all, it was a good experience. I haven't been on a horse since I was little. And even then I was on a pony.

Alyse and I with our helmets on getting ready for meet our horses.

 Alyse getting on Java.

Alyse not so sure about the horse she's sitting on. LOL

This is the best picture of the few that Alex took because Teke (my horse) was not feeling a photo shoot that morning.

Me with Teke.

Book Reading

So I have on my list that I will join a book club (#16). Well, three months in and I'm part of a book partnership. LOL. It's just my sister and me. I don't think that it really counts but the point was to start reading more books and having someone (or a set of people) to discuss the books with. Well we've read four books to date and here they are (plus a bonus)...

 Book #1  
Sisters by Rosamund Lupton I was totally shocked at the end to say the least. But it was a great read.  

Book #2
Little Bee by Chris Cleave I really can't remember how I felt about this book. But I think it took me a little while to get into it.

Book #3
 A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White Totally LOVED this book although I wasn't all that happy with how it end.  

Book #4  
Spin by Catherine McKenzie Spin was hard for me to get into during the first couple of chapters but as I continued to read, I couldn't put it down. My sister told me to stop reading because I was like ten chapters ahead of her... but I couldn't. I wish there was a sequel to this book so that I could see what happens to the characters.





Bonus Book
This last book I read before I started reading with my sister.

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. I absolutely LOVED reading this book. I've even recommended it to other people who also loved it as well. Definitely a MUST READ.

New Orleans

So this past weekend, Berto and I were supposed to go to Birmingham, AL and Nashville, TN for a friend's 30th birthday celebration weekend. We both took half days on Friday to catch an early flight. By the time we parked our car, check in, get through security, and get to our gate, our flight's departure time changed. So we went to get something to eat. While eating our flight time changed again. When we got back to our gate we noticed that it was pouring down raining to the point that where you couldn't really see. Needless to say our flight was cancelled. And needless to say we were two very unhappy people since they couldn't put us on another flight until Sunday. So since we couldn't fly and AL/TN was too far to drive for such a quick trip (returning on Monday), we decided to go to New Orleans, LA. When we got to NO on Saturday we checked into our hotel, valet parked our car, and started our walk. Walking along the pier what did we come to??? One of those bungy-trampoline-jumpy thingies. My husband suggested that we give it a whirl. - Now let me say that I tried this once before when my nephew came to visit a couple of summers ago and it did not turn out to pretty for me. - So he paid for both of us and I allowed him to go first.

Most of you know that I am vertically challenged and so this was not going to be all that easy for me since I couldn't really jump without help. One of the workers had to pull me and then let me go so that I could gain momentum. I like to think that I am not afraid of heights but then this reminded me that I probably have a small fear. They also wanted me to flip which scared the mess out of me and made my heart race about 1000x/minute.

My legs were shaking for about 5 minutes after we walked away from that contraption. I am glad I did it, to redeem myself from before, but I have NO plans on doing it again. The next day we went to breakfast and got on the trolley (my husband likes to ride public transportation), and rode to the end of the line in the garden district.

Later that evening we went to eat and then walked the French Quarter. Bourbon Street in the evening is ALWAYS entertaining no matter what time of year. We saw some very interesting things and people. We stopped for some gelato and was sitting outside the cafe watching a parade ride around the Quarter. I heard the Wobble before it even got close. I can't hear that song without going into a full out dance... and that is EXACTLY what I did. I walked -more like jogged- to the end of the sidewalk and proceeded to dance. A black couple was walking in my direction nodding their heads; the lady looked like all she needed was permission to start dancing and seeing me was just that. Next thing I know, I turn around and there's a guy dancing with us. He dances for a while and walks off but then a bunch of people come walking down the street and start dancing with us. At the end of the song and ran back to Berto too excited that I heard my song AND started a dance line in the middle of the sidewalk. Since New Orleans is where my sweetie proposed (Dec 2010), I will always have fun memories when I think about it. This weekend will be added to list, along with my sister's 26th birthday (Nov 2010). I am still really disappointed that we didn't get to make our trip to AL/TN, but I am glad that we did get to go somewhere. I love it ba-be!!! *In my best NO accent.*