Steven Sanchez, Jr.

welp.

I’ve been on this random energy-high. Honestly, I’ve actually been pretty obnoxious lately. But I’m okay with that.

Had a good weekend.

Thankful for great friends.

My family rocks.

Classes are going alright.

I’m graduating in a matter of weeks.

Future outlook is looking promising.

Not saying much, though.

Just praying a lot.

God is good.

He’s def been challenging me.

But I’m okay with it.

I’m really excited for this semester. year. the future.

… I’m also scared at the same time.

*shrug*

One of the things I’ve been learning lately – life isn’t about the materialistic things.

Relationships and who you surround yourself with makes life worth living.

Fun fact: I’m in class right now.

The class is debating about a tangent gone way wrong.

I’ve checked out.

Actually caught myself in my own world and whistling in the middle of class.

(again.)

Haha.

These are my thoughts for the moment.

I’m out.

AAAccctually, jk.

I want to share this piece that I made yesterday:

The picture is of a man who died in Haiti. I found it in the newspaper. It moved me. So I turned it into something.

K. Bye.

I went to bed a little over an hour ago. Was playing on my phone, as I always do before going to sleep. I found myself reading through my blog – like my older entries. I don’t know exactly what happened, but my blog has definitely lost its charm lately. My posts haven’t been as happy-go-lucky as they were in the summer. I think I was forcing them too much. Like I wanted them to be deep and meaningful and serious. That isn’t me, though.

I mean I’ll have an occasional good and beefy one.

But those are usually times when I just need to get something off my chest or am passionate about something that day. I’m definitely a fan of my original ones. The random thoughts that I’ll blabber on about. Ha. Like here I am now. I couldn’t sleep. So I’m writing, blabbering on about how I couldn’t sleep and have these thoughts running through my head.

But, back to my past few blogs – I also have some hunches as to why they were so blah. Last semester was plain and simple a crappy semester. Granted, good stuff did happen, it was just all around rough. And I think my posts reflected that. This semester’s been off to a great start, and I’m definitely back to my old self. All is right in the world. Or my world, at least.

So here’s to  less-trying-to-be-something-else and more-of-my-real-self-and-light-heartedness-coming-through-in-my-posts.

Deal?

Deal. Done.

Adventures.

The word is part of the title of my blog. I use the word a lot. It is a loose term.

Anything can be turned into an adventure. Life is more fun when you make everything an adventure. I’ve been doing this a lot lately. I think it roots from this being my last semester. One of my goals has been to make the most of every opportunity. This first week has already been a blast. This weekend alone, I already encountered many adventures.

- We got attacked by a tumble weed.

- I went to a Portuguese Pig Killing

- My car died and I was stranded in Tower.

Anywho, yeah. I’ve decided life is a lot more fun when you make everything an adventure. Try it out. You won’t be disappointed.

So this Christmas break I was kind of bummed, for I didn’t have any kind of elaborate road trip planned like I did last year. (Last year, me and a few other friends took a week-long trip in attempts to drive all the way up to Canada. We only made it to Seattle because of the crazy snow storm that hit)

So this year, I knew I at least wanted to take a day trip. I made it happen. I gathered some friends, and we were off to San Jose. We ended up turning the trip into a two-day trip and stayed with my good friend Jon Nickel and his wife, Whitney. It was even more special because I hadn’t seen Jon since his wedding – back in September 2008.

So, for this post, I felt my blog could use some media. It has been a while. So here are a few pics from our trip.

The Mystery Spot! For $5 we got a 45-minute tour and some cheap thrills!

A fun picture from the Mystery Spot. I didn't realize until after our tour that I had left my camera on manual focus. I was bummed :/

The second half of day one. After the Mystery Spot, we went to the Tech Museum in San Jose. A robot took my picture and then drew my face! This museum is one of my favorites. I didn't take many pictures inside here though...

Here we enjoyed some pizza for dinner. Was really tasty. We were really hungry and ordered two larges for the four of us. We found that we didn't need that much food... oh well!

Sir Jon himself.

Here's Whitney. Apparently she didn't want to have her picture taken. It didn't help either, that I kept flashing them with my camera's flash just for fun.

Myself and Pia! Just relaxing after our first day.

Car picture! This was the beginning of day two.

We saw a pirate. He also didn't like being touched.

We rented bikes and rode around Monterey. We stopped here for a bit to take some pictures. It was really pretty.

After our bike ride, the girls felt like being "models". So we had a little fun and snapped some shots. There was a lady in the background who kept chuckling at us (not visible in the picture).

We were walking to the shore, and I was pointing and clicking my camera randomly. I liked this shot.

We had just arrived the place where we stayed to watch the sunset. We're pretty sure we were off the coast in Monterey somewhere. Not 100% sure, though.

Audrey was really hoping to find some creatures in the tidepools. She didn't find much, however she did find this little guy... that she eventually chucked back into the ocean.

We ended our second day of our trip watching the sunset at Monterey. It was a really pretty one.

I’ve been living in Fresno for four years now. I’ve been in southeast Fresno as I’ve been  a student at Fresno Pacific. There I’ve lived on campus and have become quite familiar with the area. I often take Butler Avenue to get to Peach Avenue. It is on Butler Avenue, just east of Winery that I often see an older man walking his dog.

Now this man, I don’t know his name. However I have seen him many times. He wears his windbreaker coat and beanie and walks his golden retriever. I assume they do this on a daily basis, for I have seen them countless times. Now this dog, I was able to see he was getting old. My freshman year, the dog walked at a slow pace. My sophomore year – at an even slower pace. My junior year, with a limp. And then, this morning. This morning was the first time I had seen them in a while. I was driving back to my place after church, and when I saw the man and his dog, my heart just sunk.

Today I saw the man walking, but this time his dog was not walking along side of him. Instead, the man was pulling his dog in a red wagon.

Seeing that today made me so sad, but so happy at the same time. I was able to see that lasting relationship between man and his dog.  That no matter what, the man and his dog would still go on their daily walk. That today was really a highlight and it has been on my mind a lot.

Now, there was one of those large medical-liners that was hanging over the edges of the wagon that the dog was sitting on. I don’t know if he had surgery, or simply can’t walk much at all any more. But yeah. Was just really heart-warming and I immediately knew that I wanted to share this story with you guys today.

Welp. We’re in 2010.

Yesterday had I wrote, my only thoughts would have been: “Happy Hangover New Year!”

Today, after much needed sleep and a ton of mom’s bomb food, I’m feeling much better. The words are also flowing a lot better. My new year’s celebration was grand. I got to spend it with so many friends through the course of the night.

However, my biggest celebration of bringing in 2010: it has been one year since I have stopped smoking. Qutting tobacco has been one of my biggest and only real new years resolutions that I have actually followed though and made a reality. So I was pretty stoked. Not gonna lie, though, I had my moments of weakness when just one cigarette sounded mighty fine. But I said no. And here I am.

One thing’s crazy, though. Since Jan 1, 2009 I have been tracking the year marking my progress of staying away from ciggies. Because I was celebrating with each month, I was actively watching by how fast the year really goes by. That was really an interesting way to have lived this past year. I had never really tracked the months and weeks as they have gone by before, but doing it for a whole year really changed my perspective on things. Like, it made me realize how fast time really does go by — and especially how it gets quicker and quicker each year.

Alas, this year should be grand. I’m going to graduate in May. Annd that is about all I’ve got goin for me so far. But I’m okay with that. I’m taking it one day at a time and enjoying the ride, and hopefully will find some guidance to keep me on the right path along the way. So, Happy New Year to all, and to all a good year

Welp, it is Christmas-time again. This year came quicker than last, and I only anticipate them coming sooner and sooner as I get older. It was this evening that I actually stopped to take time and reflect a bit on some of my family’s traditions.

On Christmas Eve, my family (mom, dad, brother, sister, grandma) spends the afternoon at Grandma’s house. We sit around and eat on snacks. Then we go to mass, come back to Grandmas, enjoy some more goodies, and then open the presents from Grandma. When opening presents, we take turns opening them one at a time starting with the youngest person and working up to the oldest.

Come Christmas morning, Grandma comes over to my parents’ house and we open our stockings over here and the rest of the Christmas gifts. After the gifts are opened, Grandma goes back home and she starts preparing the food. On Christmas day, my aunts and uncles come over and we have a huge lunch. The grown-ups all sit around and talk, and the kids run around and play. Anymore, I find myself in the grown-ups category because my cousins are all half my age. *shrug*

Here is a list of our traditions that make our Christmases ours:

• A Christmas Story: Dad loves that movie. We watch it at least once each year.
• Snowballs, Poppycock, Caramel Corn, Fudge, Chex Mix, Cinnamon Candy: all goodies that are made in abundance each year.
• An orange, socks, shampoo, toothpaste: Gifts from Santa in our stockings at Grandma’s house.
• Cookies and a note for Santa: We have done it every year. I’m 21, and this year still plan on leaving Santa some cookies. And yes, I do expect to wake up to a plate with cookie crumbs, and a note back.
• Stockings: we go to bed with the stockings empty, hanging on the wall. We wake up with them filled and sitting on the couch waiting for us.
• Lounging: Our holidays consist of a lot of lounging around and just being with each other. It’s really relaxing, and now I can appreciate that – especially after the hectic semester I’ve had.

But yeah, that is pretty much what Christmas looks like with my family. We’re low-key, and we eat heartily. I’m okay with that. I’ve known others to have hectic, hectic Christmases, and others to have equally relaxing ones like ours. What does your Christmas look like?

Now that our Thanksgiving feast has come and gone, we are left with some delicious left overs. Thanksgiving is by far one of my favorite meals of the year. The day of, I enjoy everything as it is normally eaten – nothing mixed or done too crazy. The days after, however, is when I enjoy mixing things up.

This year, I had a new idea of how to eat Thanksgiving meal leftovers:  a quesadilla.

As with many of my concoctions, it is always hit and miss. I wasn’t sure how this quesadilla was going to some out, and I was nervous about the taste until I took my first bite. So, to make this bad boy of a quesadilla, here’s what I did:

• First, I picked my ingredients (flour tortilla, sweet potatoes, turkey, grated cheddar cheese)
• Then, I spread sweet potatoes over half of the tortilla.
• I placed it in a pan, then proceeded to sprinkle some cheddar cheese.
• Next, I put some chunks of turkey meat.
• Once the tortilla was warm enough and pliable, I folded it over.
• Then I heated the quesadilla, flipping occasionally, until both sides were crispy and light golden-brown.

Now was the moment of truth. I plated and cut the quesadilla in half. It was really hot and nice and cheesy. I took my first bite … and I liked it! However, one thing was missing. So, I threw in some good ol’ Tapatio sauce. That was the final touch it needed. I am always a fan of sweet potato and turkey mixed together. It is a great flavor combo — to me, at least. The cheese didn’t take away or add from these flavors much, but enhanced it really nicely. The Tapatio sauce was the flavor unifyer. To me, it helped create a well-rounded flavor and a quesadilla that was really good.

Here’s to unique food combinations!

I remember last year, I think I threw a little bit of everything into a bowl, heated it, and mixed it all up. It looked disgusting, but I think I liked that one! *shrug* Do you have any fun Thanksgiving leftover creations that you like to do?

Hey! Remember me? I used to write of adventures in Nashville and other random thoughts.. Yeah, I’m still alive. Kind of barely, though. This has been an extremely demanding semester. Mentally. Emotionally. Physically.

I miss my blog. I feel like it is a neglected little child. Christmas break is coming up. That means I will have free time again. Next semester looks quite promising, too.

**I have a disclaimer: I am currently interning for James Collier of Paprika Studios. I published this post at 4:30pm earlier today. This post was actually a blog being written for the website TasteFresno.com (co-owned by James), however I enjoyed it and published it to my own personal blog. **

So I don’t know about you, but now that Halloween has just passed, the winter holidays are on my mind. And what does that mean? Food. Tons and tons of delicious, mouthwatering food.

Growing up, the holidays always meant a house full of sweets and a house stocked with food ready for guests at any moment. My grandmother always made sure to have dozens upon dozens of homemade cookies stocked in the freezer as well as even more dozens of her homemade rolls and Portuguese sweetbread rolls (my favorite).

Also, the holidays were a time of huge family gatherings. I fondly remember grandma’s house packed with people. It was grandma, mom and dad, my brother and sister, my aunts and uncles, their children, and their children’s children. Come dinnertime, my grandma would put several tables together to fit all the adults and older cousins. I’m talking, like, two full sized kitchen tables put end to end, and then on top of that laid a huge piece of plywood board, to make the two tables seamless. Then atop of the plywood board was my grandmother’s appropriately themed tablecloths.

We would all feast on my grandma’s cooking – the adults and my older cousins at the big table, and then my brother and similar-aged cousins at the kids table. Which was in the living room.  I also remember that we would all rush to eat our food so that we could get back to playing. Now that I’m older I can appreciate the deliciousness of my grandma’s food and taking my time to enjoy the meal.

After we all ate, the men would make their way to the living room to return to the newspaper, take a nap, watch football. Us kids would go back to playing. The ladies would clean up the kitchen. Then, a little while after the kitchen was all cleaned and everybody has had time to let their stomachs rest, my grandma would bust out with the dessert array. There were pies and cookies and desserts galore.

*sits back to take a moment to relive in these moments for a bit*

Yeah. The holidays are good times in my family. Great food. Great people. After perusing the [new] TasteFresno website (nothing wrong with a shameless plug), I found a few recipes that were similar ones that show up in my family’s holiday recipe repertoire.

After checking these out, what are some of your cherished family/holiday/food memories?

Bourbon Pecan Pie

• At the holidays, my grandma’s pecan pie is the biggest hit. She will easily make five, six, even more of these because they are so well liked.

Caramel Shortbread Squares

• I found these on my own, and have introduced these to my family’s holiday goodie list in the recent years past. I have made countless batches of these Chocolatey-Caramely-Heaven bars.

Breakfast Sausage Casserole

• This recipe is a good one when you know that you’re going to have guests spending the night. You prepare it ahead of time, let it sit in the fridge, then the night after you and your guests wake up – pop it in the oven and enjoy! It’s got your whole breakfast in the pan. My aunt’s version of this also has cream cheese in it – so good!

Creamy Pecan Pralines

• Pralines and peanut brittle. My grandma always has a tray out of her homemade snacks that we will all snack on before dinner. On her tray is her fudge, peanut brittle, (my mom’s) homemade hard candy, trail mix (my grandma makes batches upon batches of this stuff, too!) and cookies.

Grandma’s Fudge

• This isn’t my grandma’s recipe, but it is fudge. Another holiday staple.

Mom’s Turkey Stuffing

• Since we have grown older, our holiday dinners have become smaller. My mom has now been making our Thanksgiving dinner. Every year my mom continues to perfect her dinner. And yes, she does have her own recipe for the stuffing. Again, this particular recipe isn’t my mom’s, but it is another holiday must-have.

Toffee-topped bars

• Now, this recipe doesn’t really relate to any of my family usuals. However, to me it sounds really tasty. I am a sucker for toffee.