Message in a Bottle

I love love.

obviously.

But also I love stories of love. Not just love stories, persay, but stories of love as a human condition. Stories of amazing feats of love, the powerful force behind it, or the general good that lies in the hearts of the human population that we had all too soon given up on.

This is one of those stories:



In 1999 fisherman Steve Gowan found a bottle clinging to his fishing nets. Inside the eroded bottle were two notes written by Private Thomas Hughes dated September 9, 1914. The first note asked the person who finds the bottle to forward the second letter to his wife Elizabeth Hughes. The second letter was a love letter to his wife Elizabeth in which he expressed how she was constantly in his thoughts as he made his way to France in the early days of WWI.

After reading the love letter Gowan felt a personal responsibility to see that Private Hughes’s 85-year old letters found their way home to his loved ones. Gowan assumed Elizabeth probably passed on so he began searching for her descendants and his search lead him to Thomas and Elizabeth’s daughter, Emily, who lived in Auckland, New Zealand.

Sadly, Gowan later found out that Private Thomas Hughes died in battle shortly after sending the bottle. He never got to see his beloved Elizabeth again nor ever meet his 2-year old daughter Emily. After hearing about Steve Gowan’s findings, The New Zealand Post offered to fly Gowan to New Zealand so he can hand deliver the bottle to Emily. As Emily later shared with the newspaper, her father’s notes couldn’t come home until the right boat came along at the right time with the right fisherman.

And if that isn't enough to make you believe in a higher power, or the twists and turns of fate, or the incredible love you can feel from a person who has already left this earth, then this story, also of a message in a bottle, is sure to make you a believer.



When Josh Baker was 10 years old he dumped his mother’s entire bottle of vanilla down the sink and decided to use the bottle for a message. He took a piece of paper and wrote, “My name is Josh Baker. I’m 10. If you find this, put it on the news. The date is April 16, 1995.” Baker stuffed the note inside the bottle of vanilla extract and threw it out into Wisconsin’s White Lake. Years went on and Baker graduated high school and enlisted in the Marines. In a pure twist of irony, Baker survived the war in Iraq but lost his life back home in a tragic car accident. His family and friends were devastated by their loss.

In what could only be described as an unexplained act of fate, months after Baker’s death two of his friends, Steve Lieder and Robert Duncan, stumbled upon a bottle in Wisconsin’s White Lake. Just like something out of a dramatic movie, Steve and Robert opened the bottle to find John Baker’s note.

Today, Baker’s childhood note is displayed in the Baker’s home as a constant reminder that Josh, although gone, is always with them.


so see all you cynics out there, people are still fundamentally good, even if we don't always see it, or choose to believe it. I don't know about you, but this makes me want to write something epic. A love letter, or maybe just a life letter. But whatever the content. I want to scribble it down, roll it up, pop it in a bottle, and let it find its way to whomever. Because in this life,



you never know.

<3

The Woes of a Blogging Girl

out·spo·ken/ˌoutˈspōkən/
Adjective: Frank in stating one's opinions, esp. if they are critical or controversial.




Ok, so I admit it. I am very outspoken.

To some, depending on your personality and how thick-skinned you are, I might be a tad bit abrasive. I tend to say exactly what I mean, and I usually allow my words to just spew out of my mouth before the traditional run through the mental filter.

Its good and bad I suppose.

On any given day you usually know exactly what I'm thinking and how I'm feeling about any given topic.

However, to those who might not like the truth in such a raw and unrefined state, this could be a huge character flaw of mine.

Either way, in the blogging world, I can not be this way. (sigh)

Lately, with my new found love of blogging, I have realized that this blog is not all mine and I can not write whatever, whenever, as I had originally anticipated.

Allow me to explain.

Recently my thoughts have been consumed with blog posting. Every thought or encounter that I may have on a daily basis (that has some potential to be expanded on and contemplated) I think in blogging. I think about what I might have to say about the issue, or how I could wrap my words around an event like a tiny little package, ready to be sent out via the World Wide Web.

I suppose it's a lot like Carrie Bradshaw. You know? During all the SITC episodes she is narrating herself through her life, or latest issue with Big. ;)

That is what my internal dialogue has become (minus Big.)

What does this have to do with you being outspoken, Tiffany? Get to the point.

Ok Ok, I'm being verbose. I promise there IS a point to all this.


My problem is this:

When I have something really good to write about, I can't.

I can't always write about what I want because this blog is public. And, chances are, the person who inspired said blog post would most likely read it, get all indignant, and then poof: another person rubbed the wrong way by my abrasive tendencies.

I mean no harm, you just inspired me. Isn't that a good thing??

If you knew the topics, probably not. But I will say this:

These topics will be written about sooner or later, just maybe when they aren't so relevant to my personal life.

SO frustrating, Oh Carrie Bradshaw, How did you do it?


Send me your guidance....

<3

Mommy/Daddy's Girl?

Have you noticed, that as you get older, you seem to be suddenly replenished with this need for Mom/Dad time?

Or maybe it's just me.

But it's the craziest thing. When I was in high school I was rarely EVER home. Always jetting off to work, rehearsals, practices, youth groups, study groups, friends houses, boyfriends houses, always running. If my mom or dad even had a moment to talk to me I was usually talking over them, trying desperately to get them to make their point as I inched closer and closer to the front door before making a swift exit.

My high school years blurred together in a very similar wave of dances, football games, heartbreak, and car rides with my best friends. The four years came to a sudden halt ending with graduation, the period at the end of the final sentence in that huge novel you've been struggling to complete. You try so hard and are so eager to finish the story, chasing the characters across the pages, urging them to get on with it already. But after that last chapter you stare at the blank page between the text and the back cover and you feel an emptiness at the pit of your stomach, wondering why you were so eager for it to be over in the first place... So I started packing for college.

Even after the journey to Monterey and the two days of moving me into my new dorm room, I was still so eager to move on, rushing my parents down the stairs and giving an uncomfortable chuckle when my Dad paused a moment too long at the threshold between my dorm hall and the stairwell.

But now...now it is so different.

Now i crave that attention and that one on one time. I;m always trying to get my mom to tag along on stupid little outings like the grocery store or Rite-Aid. And as if that's not sad enough, I always get my feeling hurt if she says no. Haha

What is this sudden need for Mommy and Daddy time? Is it because we realize now, at this age, that life is speeding by and we won't always be able to be that little girl any more?

Is it because they are moving on without us, adjusting to life with us as a "every once in awhile" instead of a constant?

Or maybe it's because we don't see them all the time, so we try to make up for lost time by being needy and regressing back to our 10 year-old-selves.


Whatever it is, the most challenging aspect of this is that they are shocked. They don't understand why we get so upset if they say no to a Rite-Aid trip or post pone a shopping trip or invite some new friend of theirs to dinner. They don't quite understand why or how it happened that suddenly we are clingy to them like infants. And I don't think we really understand either. But what ever the reason, i think it is a blessing in disguise. Not everyone wants to even see their parents, much less spend time with them. So if this is you, then don't back down. Make them hang out with you.

There is a song by Baz Luhrmann called Wear Sunscreen and in this song, or speech rather, there are so many worthy quotes, life lessons, and words of wisdom that it does a person good to read it or hear it from time to time (I personally have a printed version in my room as I write this).

Anyways, Mr. Lurhmann says this "Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on."

I think this quote really explains why I am so needy for quality time with my family at this time in my life, and hopefully that will continue.

It will mean a lot when they are gone.



This is my family after our first summer working together. This is also the only recent family photo we have. :)



<3

Life Revelations at the Age of 20

Ok so I guess this will be my Grand Canyon post, but not in the way I (or you probably) expected.

Prior to coming home from school this summer I had just finished mapping out the next 3 semesters of college. For the next year and a half of my life I was to spend my time carrying 20+ units, taking summer school, and cramming as many service learning, capstones, and liberal studies courses I possibly could, all culminating in a BA in Liberal Studies completed in 3 1/2 years. Impressive? Probably.

But that isn't the plan anymore my friends.

And this is why:


Let me start by saying, I don't get out very much. I mean,..I do, but I don't at the same time. I take road trips, I go to parties, I love to get out and do new things, but all in the happy little comfort zone I have built around myself. My travels RARELY cross the California State line, and usually involve my best friends and doing things we've all done before.

This time was very different.

Lauren mentioned the idea of going to the Grand Canyon back in January, and since we aren't the best when it comes to following through with plans, I nonchalantly agreed and went on my way. I mean, it was 6 months away! Why worry about it now?

Well, those 6 months passed very quickly, and after some minor setbacks regarding money and transportation (gotta love being a college student) we were on our way. Not only was I worried about the whole camping aspect (as previously discussed here on LC&TTS) but also I don't normally "do things like this". I said that a lot to myself during our trip to the Grand Canyon, but the fact of the matter was, I was doing it!

I didn't realize then what a life changing trip this would end up being but the things I did learn was

1. I can do a lot more then I give myself credit for
2. Life is short
3. I spend a lot of time trying to rush through to the next phase of life (being an "adult", having a career, etc.)
4. These are the days every adult I know looks back on and says "remember when we..."
5. I want to have a lot of things to "remember when" about when I'm old.

So basically what I'm saying here is that the whole idea of rushing through college and being graduated in 3 1/2 yrs, while it WOULD be pretty impressive, would also be incredibly stupid.

These are the days to savor. To drink in, filling our bellies with life experiences, and distant places. World Wonders and fairy tales. To fill our lungs with the air of different continents.

I didn't realize how many things I want to do with my life until I was standing on the precipice of that canyon with two of my best friends and acknowledging the fact that three girls from Roseville, California made it all the way to the Grand Canyon.

I was so impressed with us and realized right then and there that we are pretty kick ass.

So my plan now is to take a comfortable amount of time with this college thing and remember that life is going to be a lot more difficult later on than a 6 page essay or a final exam. I'm going to travel a lot more, stop making excuses to push things off until "some day" and do my best to really LIVE.


After that I want to take a year off and be an Au Pair in some other country and then we will go from there. Granted this could all change in the next five minutes, but for now I'm sticking to it :)





Me, Robyn and Lauren after our very successful hike INTO the canyon. Exhausted but very proud. :)

Not a Grand Canyon Post

So, I'm slacking on the Grand Canyon post, again, but I just felt really inspired by a quote I just read and would MUCH rather write about that than the GC, no offense to one of the wonders of the world.

The quote is this:

"Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn."

And since the very first word in the title of my blog is that wonderful four-lettered expression we have all grown to love, hate, or envy, I found it to be a pretty fitting topic. (and after all it is MY blog and I doubt my whole four readers care if I stay on topic.)

As I have said many times over, I love love. This love for love does have its peaks and valleys and on a really bad day if a stranger came up to me and said "I love love" to me I might give them one of my signature nostril flares and stomp in the opposite direction. But at the end of the day, in most cases, I love love.

But this quote made me think...

Are we born with a fear of love?

And my answer, thus far, is no.

We come out of the womb all sparkly and new. Our hearts are whole and we are more than willing to love anything and anyone. Think about it.

Baby's love everything. They look around the room, or the park, or the department store with wide-eyed wonderment, taking in every single thing around them. Babies have so much love to give; to their parents, their families, their teddies, their blankets, their silly little pacifier. It doesn't matter what it is or who you are, chances are that baby loves you, or is at least intrigued by you. ;)

So then I thought...

Where does the fear creep in?

I think the answer to that one starts sooner than we think.

My first instinct here was to talk about heart break and young love and being dumped for the first time in 6th grade when your 'boyfriends' best friend comes up to you during P.E. and tells you so-and-so doesn't want to be your boyfriend anymore. Devastating? Yes. But I'm not sure that's where it begins.

I think fear starts really really young. When your best friend says something mean, or a girl doesn't invite you to her birthday party. You get your feelings hurt.

When your parents let you down or aren't who you think they are, you take a little stab to the heart.

I think fear comes from being let down by people and little by little you learn that the only person you can depend on is you and you have to protect yourself from heartache. So, really, being fearful or cautious with your heart in any way what-so-ever is just as natural to us as breathing by this point.

Many people will read this and think I'm just another one of those girls who have been hurt in the past and is trying to justify being jaded or insecure, but I promise you that is not the case.

Because.

All of this segues into another quote.

This time by one of my best friends, Lauren Elizabeth Ficklin. (Lauren forgive me if I totally butcher this, you said it much more eloquently in the car.)

"Being jaded isn't permanent. It's like, when you're little, you're rushing water, taking it all in. When you start growing up you are like play-doh. Soft and impressionable, you're being formed into who you will be. And when you get even older, you are hard, set as the person you will pretty much be for the rest of your life. Being jaded isn't apart of your shape though, it's like dust. It settles around you after a messy break up and may alter the way you look for awhile, but all it takes is someone to come along and blow all the dust off, reminding you of what you liked like before the storm."

Now tell me THAT doesn't belong on a card or in a quote book or something.

It is sooo true.

And at the end of that little diddy, just like at the end of the day, love is an amazing thing and without it life would be pretty boring.

Just my opinion of course :)


No matter what happens, I still love love. <3

Slacking.

Ok so I have been back from my EPIC Grand Canyon trip for two days now but I'm still catching up on sleep and honestly enjoying the simple bliss of being lazy. Being lazy, however, means I'm definitely slacking on my blog and I have uploaded a single GC picture to Facebook. Oh the horror! haha.



Anyways, while I keep you sitting on the edge of your seat, eagerly anticipating my overview of my vacation I will let you know this:


I learned 3 things about the state of Arizona this weekend:

1. They DO NOT require public bathrooms to provide toilet seat covers (ew).

2. They will look at you with a sideways stare if you even mention the phrase "vegetarian options"

3. There apparently aren't as many cacti or tumble weeds as one California girl had originally anticipated.

More to come....<3

Sunshine, Sunburn, and Summer flying by.

Can you believe it is already July?!?

I feel like it was just a couple weeks ago that I was moving out of my dorm room, saying goodbye to my Monterey friends, and promising my roommate I'd harass her regularly with phone calls and text messages.

Now here we are in the month of July and I will be seeing her in 10 days to find our very first apartment. How exciting! My roommate is seriously the best roommate/best friend a girl could ask for and acts as my own personal therapist when we are at school.




whoops, tangent, anyways

So basically my summer has been pretty relaxed thus far. I spend my mornings working and my afternoons laying out by the pool. It's the typical summer of a California girl. However, this weekend my summer will be kicked up a notch on the adventures scale because I, Tiffany, will be embarking on a camping trip to the Grand Canyon, of all places.



For those of you who know me, you understand why "camping trip" and "Grand Canyon" are italicized.

I do not camp.

I have had one camping experience that involved a much smaller, much more adventurous, 8 year-old me and a very large RV with running water and a toilet.

So, needless to say, this is me stepping outside of my box and trying to embrace adventure.

I'll be hitting the trails with one of my best friends, Lauren of A Normal Life, she's an excellent writer by the way, and one of our friends from high school, Robyn. Just us three girls, driving into the sunset, off to see one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World.

I'm nervous, I won't lie, but I am also really excited to say I actually went somewhere and did something with my summer and my girlfriends AND I'll be able to knock "See the Grand Canyon" off my Bucket List. So there ya go. :)

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Hello all, so after an awesome time at the River Cats game last night, I decided to stay in this lovely summer evening and make some spontaneous oatmeal raisin cookies. These oat-filled beauties have always been a family favorite around here and I was in serious need of a cookie enduced pick me up...

Enter Quaker Oats man,



That jolly little blue-hat-wearing man with his flowing locks of white hair really called to me from his cylindrical box and I thought, Why not??

And all of this leads to...

MY VERY FIRST FOOD BLOG ENTRY

Granted I should have started with some amazing layered cake with ganache and fresh fruit and a custard of some kind, but the Quaker man got to me first so here it is..


This recipe is ridiculously easy and is actually on the bottom of the box lid or on the back of the wrapper depending on which box you buy.




Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

You will need:

1/2 lb (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)<-- I used it in mine.
3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
4. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
5. Stir in oats and raisins.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

And here they are..


photos courtesy of my crappy iPhone camera.

and here is my wonderful baking assistant Nicole,



she mostly just watched and taste tested but that was to be expected, not all my friends are as domestic as I am. ;)

Summer time, BBQ's, and Baseball Games

Ok so I've got two of the three I suppose but what is the deal with the lack of barbecues this summer. I mean come on, what's not to love?

The smell of charcoal and barbecue sauce fills the air. You're hot and sticky and you smell of sunscreen but you still look super cool in your flip flops and sunglasses. You spend the afternoon catching up with friends, getting some sun, and munching on fresh fruit and veggie platters while eagerly anticipating the hot dog or cheeseburger in your immediate future. Is it the most nutritious thing in the world? No. Is it an amazing culinary feat? No. But that hotdog, slightly charred because my dad left it on the BBQ for too long, tucked in a white fluffy bun and smothered in ketchup, mustard and relish throws me back to the summers of my childhood and the many many barbecues that filled them.

Ok, so that was a little intense but can you understand my nostalgia?

The thing is, BBQ's aren't even that hard to have. They aren't complicated at all. Call up your friends, assign them something to bring, break out the sunscreen and you're good to go.

"So, Tiffany, why don't you just have one?" you ask?

Well I guess I should...I don't have a good enough excuse not to.

Ok, i'm doing it!!




But not today. Because today I am going to a minor league baseball game in the 109 degree heat that Sacramento has so kindly graced us with. I will most likely spend the entire summer complaining of this heat, but I know once I'm back in Monterey enduring the gale-force winds and shivering my way through the winter, I will think back fondly to the feeling of my skin soaking in the sunlight and how wonderful it was to spend 3 months being carefree, spontaneous, and TAN.


<3

blonde. blonde. blonde.

So the latest news is:

I am now blonde.





I wish I had something more exciting to blog about today in my new found blogging glory, but alas my day consisted of dance practice, subway sandwiches, and a serious nap time with Lauren.--That's what best friends are for, right?

So anyways, back to the blonde. It was a process and I looked remarkably like Vitamin C (the girl from the 90's who sang that song Graduation) there for a bit but now I am blonde and loving it. :)


Check out the time line:

Here I am as brunette as god created me.



Here is the week long Vitamin C stage where I rarely left the house and rocked a red bandana most days just to cement the whole trailer trash peroxide blonde feel.



See the resemblance???




So then I went to see the wonderful Colie at Willow Salon & Spa and by the magic of hair dye and foils she transformed me into a normal looking individual who could finally leave the house. Yay!



and that concludes this semi=pointless post.

:)

Knight & Day and a Lovely Night.

Ok, so I guess amongst the hodgepodge of posts regarding recipes, boys, college life, and sparkly things, I am also adding movie reviews to the mix. Not by choice but due to the fact that I saw THE MOST ridiculous movie of my life tonight. I literally laughed the entire time...

Ok so to start I had the pleasure of dining with two of my favorite people this even Jake and Lydia, it was a belated birthday celebration dinner/it had been to long since we saw one another sans snotty teenagers so it was a much needed get together to say the least.

Anyways

Once Toy Story 3 was out of the running due to ridiculous show times that were clearly catered to infants and not the generation that grew up with Toy Story 1 & 2 we let the birthday girl pick. So it was decided that we would see the 9:55 showing of Knight & Day, and action movie starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

First off let me say that ever since Tom Cruise acted like a crazy person on Oprah I have never been able to look at him the same, and Cameron Diaz, while I do love her and most of the movies she's done, is aging and needs to quit playing the ditzy blonde roles....just saying.


The movie it self was romantic comedy meets intense action flick meets ridiculous amounts of special effects.

Sounds perfect right? like the ideal movie for boyfriends and girlfriends to see together. But....its not. it was odd and cumbersome and hilarious in a "I can't believe what I'm watching" way.

Ok, so there it is. I just had to get all of that off of my chest, I guess if it's a Sunday afternoon and you have nothing to do and the sort of cute guy at the ticket booth wants to let you in for free, then I'd say go for it. But other than that, I wouldn't waste your time. :)

Because all the cool kids are doing it.

So my friends Chelsea and Ashley decided it would be a good idea to start a blog (morethanvanilla36.blogspot.com) and I thought, why not? My roommate and I have both created bucket lists and on mine it says "create a food blog" as number 7 or something, so I figured why not just start a blog, throw in a few recipes here and there, and the use my crazy life to fill in the gaps. Good idea, yes? Well, maybe not, but you are reading this anyways aren't you? :)

So today I will start with why I chose the blog title I did. should anyone question me, haha.


Ok, so I'm always saying how much I love love. I love being in love, seeing people in love, sappy romantic comedies, the works. I try not to love so freely and actually protect my heart from time to time, but lets face it. I'm not very good at it. I love freely and given the opportunity (and a very tall ladder) I would literally shout it from the rooftops. <3=greatness

Next up we have chocolate. I feel like this one is pretty self explanatory but for the sake of blogging I will say that 1. I love chocolate. 2. I have a serious sweet tooth. and 3. I bake some pretty awesome desserts.

And that leaves us with the things that sparkle. I'm sure that most of the female population can relate to the love of shiny and sparkly things but I think I might have been given an extra dose of that love. I get distracted by the smallest excess glimmer of light it is ridiculous. So all things that sparkle seriously do some damage in the life of Tiffany Osgood. It could literally be anything: glitter, rhinestones, sequins. But most the time its more dangerous, like.......diamonds. ;)


But alas, diamonds are a girls best friend (and my name IS Tiffany) so there. :)