Mandy Leach

I went to go visit my Aunt Jenny, and among many awesome things that she showed me, one of them was these super-de-duper delicious pancakes.  I am telling you, pancakes never tasted as good as they do in this recipe.  And now I will share it with you.  In her own words.  (This is from our family website.  Aaron is my uncle.  Jenny, I hope you don't mind.)

I love the pancakes Aaron makes with the Krusteez mix.  Just take a cup or so of the Krusteez Buttermilk Pancake mix, add 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of oats, some cinnamon and vanilla and enough water to get the consistency of pancake batter. Cook on a hot griddle w/ a little butter. Serve w/ warm syrup. YUM, and healthy.

So there you have it.  Try it.  I know you'll love it.  They're my new favorite.   

Speaking of plants, (see post below) I am going to plant a garden!  I am so excited.  I can hardly wait to start!  I looked up online what vegetables would be appropriate to plant in Arizona right now, and out of those, these are the ones I decided to maybe try:  Broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, onions (bulb and green), peas, radishes, snap beans, spinach.  Ok... so that's a pretty big list.

My dad said I could use part of the backyard.  I started on Saturday, and without my list handy, I bought some vegetable packets and potting soil.  I got carrots, cucumbers, green onions, radishes, spinach, and lavender just for fun.  Then, my Dad and I cleared out a small section (to start out with) of the gravel that was there.  He had a drip system installed when he had some concrete laid nearby, so that's coming along too.  I think all we need are the actual dripper parts... I guess you poke them into the hose that hangs out underground.  He'll have to help me figure that out later. 
 
It started getting a little dark, so we had to stop after we cleared out the gravel and most of the random rocks in our riverbed of a backyard.  The dirt is pretty sandy, which I heard is good, and then I'll put the top soil and mix it all up next. 
 
So... sad day... On the lavender package, (which I didn't read in the store) it says that it doesn't bloom until the second year after planting.  I love the smell of lavender, and I was hoping to have some soon.  I guess I'll have to be patient, or return the 1.50 packet of seeds, as frivolous as that seems.

I have this little plant.  It is very pretty, but through some possible trauma and accidental neglection, it might be dying.  I don't know what to do to help it!  I've moved it to a better spot for sunlight, and have cut off the dead leaves.  I hope that works!  It's such a cute plant!

So, I can't really figure out the whole texting thing.  It worked once, but after that, nada.  If anyone else reads this and has figured it out or knows something I don't, let me know!  Thanks!!

Guess what! I just learned how to text a posting to my blog! Wow... This is really cool.  Although... I'm not totally sure if I'm doing it quite right... I just had to delete two posts that came through from my phone as jumbled garbage... hmm....

For all who would like to know:

Rachmaninoff - Etude in Eb Major
Rachmaninoff - Cello Sonata Op. 18 mvt. III (Kyle Grant, cello)
Starer - Sketches in Color
Pink
Blue
Purple
Black and White
Bright Orange
Debussy - Images I
Reflets Dans L'eau (Reflections in the Water)
Hommage a Rameau
Mouvement
Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue (with a full-orchestrated BYU-Idaho student symphony)

So... I didn't win to play with the school symphony. The competition was really stiff this year. However, I decided to make my dreams come true and do something even better... put together my own symphony for my senior recital!! I'm having my friend Charity Heiner conduct it and all of my instrumentalist friends (who are available) are playing with me! I'm so super excited about this. My senior recital is on July 11 at 4:30 PM in the Barrus concert hall for any/all who would like to come. Admission is free. :)