A girl named Rosé

This summer is completely different than all of my past summer holidays.  Usually I am jetsetting around the world visiting friends and family.  I like spending a few weeks in North Carolina hanging out with my nephew Mateo and the family out there before I head out to Costa Mesa, California for some  bonding time with Asher and Judah!  I don't typically spend as much time there.  Sleeping on their couch is a bit more of an imposition on their regular schedule.  Though Amanda doesn't mind that I wake up with the boys and entertain them, change them, feed them, and then by the time Amanda wakes up her latte is hot and ready!

This summer I'm teaching for 6 weeks in British Columbia, Canada... It's a bit odd because I'm back at my old high school!  I have 12 Chinese students in my class and they're going to be a full on, entertaining group!  Yesterday was my first day and I walked in and the kids were there fully engaged in an intense game of foosball... with an apple.  Each time they smacked the ball bits of apple sprayed on them as chunks flew across the playing field.  The same kid, William, who came up with the apple idea later ended up eating a marker, blue ink streaking down his chin.  And later I turned around and saw him with some tissue shoved up his nose, shutting down a nosebleed!

Two of the girls showed up named Rose.  Neither of them wanted to change their name when we offered the names Rosa, Rosie, or Rosey.  Finally, one girl jumped up thrilled to change her name to Rosé - Yes, we did name one of our students after the local vineyards!


The afternoon was supposed to be a tour of Abbotsford.  I was all for the tour but decided to add a special Hannah twist by taking the kids to Starbucks!!  We took full advantage of their free Friday the 13th drinks and I even got to try both new flavors!  I'm excited for this summer and hope keep track of the random events here.

New scarf

I have been inspired by Mimi and now want to wear scarves all the time...why didn't I know about scarves before? I also spent an hour helping my mom clean out her closet and taught her what layering was!!!

baking and eating

I've been baking cinnamon buns all weekend.  Well, Joshua made me some on Saturday and then Mateo and I started some yesterday.  He had to head to his mums and I got a bit impatient so I made a batch yesterday... Then today we finished them off! YUMMMMY in my belly.

And here is Aunt Judy Reid's secret recipe:

SWEET ROLLS 

1 pkg. yeast
1 cup warm water (just warm)
1/3 cup sugar
4 tab. Melted butter
1 cup warm milk (be sure it is just warm and not too hot or it will kill the
yeast)
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
5-6 cups flour (or until it is sticky but not heavy or thick)

Dissolve yeast in warm water, add other ingredients and mix together well. The dough should be a bit sticky. Cover and let rise (I do this the night before and let rise in the refrigerator). Split the dough and roll out on floured surface.
Spread with melted or soft butter and cover with lots of brown sugar and cinnamon (approximately 1 cup with 1 ? tsp. cinnamon for both). Roll and slice about ? inch for rolls and a little less for the muffin tins which are sprayed first.

Let rise another 15 - 20 minutes and bake in 350 oven till done (approx. 12-15 min??) light but not brown (watch the muffin tins so that they are just done or they will be dry). You can pull the middle and see if rolls look done or use a tooth pick.

Drizzle warm rolls with powered sugar/milk/vanilla frosting. J

New phone

I'm hoping that now that I have a phone that's smarter than a fifth grader, I'm going to get over my fear of blogging and jump right back into it. I almost feel like I need to write a catch up blog for the past ten months. Daunting task. But if Krista can take as year off and get back on the horse, so can I!!!

Quinoa Salad

I made another delicious meal for my thirty by 30 goal.... On Tuesdays, after yoga, we have family dinner.  For dinner I made a few different dishes but this was the favourite I think...  And I didn't get a photo BUT mine really looked exactly like the posted one.  It was Quinoa salad with black beans, avocado, and cumin-lime dressing. So enjoy the photos and incorporate more quinoa into your diet.

How come I'm not cooking???

I'm still traveling and haven't been in MY kitchen for 9 weeks.  Tomorrow will be flying home (back to the middle east) and will be back in MY space and able to focus on the Thirty by 30 that I've promised you.  So have no fear, once I've sorted out jetlag and my routine... I'll be baking!!!

Summer Bucket List

This summer I wanted to detox, practice yoga, travel, run, and see my family.  

I'd say it's been a successful summer.

Detoxed - (accidentally lost 10+ pounds)
Yoga - practiced many different styles in many different studios (over 45 classes and workshops)
Travel - managed to visit 8 states and one province, including Orange County, California; Vancouver, British Columbia, and Long Island, New York.
Running - Ran in two 5km races (Brooklyn Bridge and the Mount Airy Rocks and Runs - the article even mentions a runner from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates!)
Family - Spent quality time with all of my immediate family members and saw many of my relatives up in Canada!

Successful Summer!