Monday, August 31, 2009
Couldn't resist!
Ok....so....I decided I needed a little pre-bedtime laughter and so checkedout today's postings for MyLifeIsAverage...I then decided you all needed to see some of these and partake in the enjoyment. Enjoy the feast!!
Today I found out that having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal in Florida. I'm both really disturbed by this and curious as to why this had to be made a law. MLIA
Today, I drove around with my windows down blasting the Harry Potter theme song. Throughout the time it took to drive from work to my house I got 6 thumbs up, caused 3 people to wave around fake conductor's batons, and received innumerable nods and smiles. This is going to become a daily thing. MLIA.
Today my teacher told us she would make adjustments to the schedule because we couldn't be enrolled in two classes at once. Someone in my row suggested a Time-Turner. I have found my lab partner for the semester. MLIA
Today, I was going through customs, and a very scary official decided to search my bag. When he found my teddy bear, he proceeded to amuse himself by making it growl and attack me. I am now much less intimidated by customs officials. MLIA.
Today my brother baked cookies. He put them on the counter to cool and then accidentally fell asleep while waiting. My whole family ate them all while he was asleep and then we convinced him he dreamt baking the cookies. He believed us. MLIA
Today, while vacationing in Florida (I'm Canadian), a girl asked me if Canadians really live in igloos. I managed to convince her that all Canadians live in igloos, wear buffalo fur, and eat nothing but polar bear and seal meat, maple syrup, and bacon. You're welcome, Canada. MLIA
Today I found a crayon called "Your Grandma's Fake Plastic Plant". I know what my new favorite color is. MLIA
Today me and my mom were arguing. She said that I always think im right about everything. Later that day we went out to chinese. When I opened up my fotune cookie it read: "You always know the answers, they just dont ask the right questions sometimes." I made my mom read it. I win. MLIA
Today, I dropped a piece of un-eaten toast out my 2-story window by accident. I quickly looked out. I saw someone catch it, look around, and take a bite out of it. I laughed. MLIA
Today, I was at a pub playing trivia. They announced a special prize for anyone who could sing the entire Hogwarts school song from memory. I was the only one who could. The bartender made me butterbeer. It was awesome. MLIA
Today, I bought a Disney Princess CD. My two roommates laughed at me until a "Whole New World" came on and our extremely attractive RA came running into the room to sing the Aladdin parts while I sung the Jasmine parts. I win. MLIA
Nighty-night!
~MW
The Last 1st Day...
I SURVIVED!!! I survived the last first day of my undergraduate career...this is a good thing, and I didn't even really hate my classes all that much. And, to top it all off, the Lord decided to smile down upon me (well, and the other 60,000 students roaming the campus today) and grant me a beautiful day of "cool" weather, complete with lovely breeze.
Oh the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need, like the sun and the rain and apple seed. The Lord is good to me!
So, I haven't sang that little ditty in ages...but it really is a good one!
Well, kids, that's all for tonight. I'm too tired and it's too late to do any more.
Blessings!
~MW
Oh the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need, like the sun and the rain and apple seed. The Lord is good to me!
So, I haven't sang that little ditty in ages...but it really is a good one!
Well, kids, that's all for tonight. I'm too tired and it's too late to do any more.
Blessings!
~MW
Sunday, August 30, 2009
...Summer: The End...
And, summer is officially over (well, in about 2.5hrs, give or take). This is deeeeeepressing, to say the least. I am seriously dreading this semester, and it isn't even laid out to be all that of a difficult one - I'm just totally and completely over my life as a student is all. Well, enough of that on to updates!
The creme brulee...oh the creme brulee... Well, it didn't really work. *sad and depressed face* I don't really know what went wrong, the recipe is really only two things: heavy cream and egg yolks. You boil the cream for 30sec (without scalding it, of course), mix it into the beaten yolks, pour that mixture back into the pot on the stove and heat the mixture until it becomes thick and coats the spoon. I did ALL of that! Then you pour it into shallow baking dishes/pans and chill it in the fridge over-night. The next day you sprinkle a light coating of sugar over the top of the cream mixture and throw it in the broiler to caramelize the sugar. Sounds simple enough, right?!?! Well, apparently not. My cream did not set-up over-night, no idea why, and then my sugar would not caramelize! Ugh, I was not happy. Taste was fine, it just wasn't right. But, don't you worry, I'll be tackling that creme brulee yet again and I will keep tackling it until I boil/chill/broil it into submission! I'm determined. {the Pavlova will have to wait until I invest in an electric mixer of sorts...} But, anyways, that's the summation of my most recent adventure in the kitchen.
Now on to life news. My goal and dream for the last 2yrs or so has been to be a Teach For America corps member and teach the kiddos about science and get them excited about learning and chasing after knowledge. So, I filled out my application and submitted it with confidence on Friday the 21st. Well, this Thursday rolls around and I get an email telling me that I haven't been selected to advance to the next level of the application process. I was dumbfounded. I thought that surely, with two science degrees and the research I have been doing that I would be qualified enough to enter the program as an elementary science teacher. But, alas, I was apparently mistaken. I was definitely (and kind of still am) heartbroken. I'm really just kind of at a loss, I suppose, as to what I am supposed to pursue now. TFA would have given me direction for 2yrs allowing me to get grad school in order for after my time teaching for TFA. I still want to teach, I just don't know what I'm supposed to do right now. Do I enroll in an alternative certification program to become a science teacher now? Do I go to grad school next fall first, finish that and then try teaching? If I decide to go the grad school route, do I pursue U of M, Minneapolis or U of I Champaign-Urbana, or look for some place totally different? If I do teaching where do I pursue that route: Illinois, Minnesota, California, Colorado, north east?? Then there's the whole option of going to Dominica with Brendan next summer-fall and doing science outreach with the kids there teaching them about bugs. Or I could get a job working with the US Forest Service... I dunno...growing up is hard :( But, as disappointed as I am about TFA, I'm trying to keep my chin up and my heart and mind open to the next bit of direction the Lord will throw at me (if He could do it sooner rather than later that would be awesome....).
Well, as mentioned earlier, school starts tomorrow...yay school.
Mmmk...I'm outty.
~MW
The creme brulee...oh the creme brulee... Well, it didn't really work. *sad and depressed face* I don't really know what went wrong, the recipe is really only two things: heavy cream and egg yolks. You boil the cream for 30sec (without scalding it, of course), mix it into the beaten yolks, pour that mixture back into the pot on the stove and heat the mixture until it becomes thick and coats the spoon. I did ALL of that! Then you pour it into shallow baking dishes/pans and chill it in the fridge over-night. The next day you sprinkle a light coating of sugar over the top of the cream mixture and throw it in the broiler to caramelize the sugar. Sounds simple enough, right?!?! Well, apparently not. My cream did not set-up over-night, no idea why, and then my sugar would not caramelize! Ugh, I was not happy. Taste was fine, it just wasn't right. But, don't you worry, I'll be tackling that creme brulee yet again and I will keep tackling it until I boil/chill/broil it into submission! I'm determined. {the Pavlova will have to wait until I invest in an electric mixer of sorts...} But, anyways, that's the summation of my most recent adventure in the kitchen.
Now on to life news. My goal and dream for the last 2yrs or so has been to be a Teach For America corps member and teach the kiddos about science and get them excited about learning and chasing after knowledge. So, I filled out my application and submitted it with confidence on Friday the 21st. Well, this Thursday rolls around and I get an email telling me that I haven't been selected to advance to the next level of the application process. I was dumbfounded. I thought that surely, with two science degrees and the research I have been doing that I would be qualified enough to enter the program as an elementary science teacher. But, alas, I was apparently mistaken. I was definitely (and kind of still am) heartbroken. I'm really just kind of at a loss, I suppose, as to what I am supposed to pursue now. TFA would have given me direction for 2yrs allowing me to get grad school in order for after my time teaching for TFA. I still want to teach, I just don't know what I'm supposed to do right now. Do I enroll in an alternative certification program to become a science teacher now? Do I go to grad school next fall first, finish that and then try teaching? If I decide to go the grad school route, do I pursue U of M, Minneapolis or U of I Champaign-Urbana, or look for some place totally different? If I do teaching where do I pursue that route: Illinois, Minnesota, California, Colorado, north east?? Then there's the whole option of going to Dominica with Brendan next summer-fall and doing science outreach with the kids there teaching them about bugs. Or I could get a job working with the US Forest Service... I dunno...growing up is hard :( But, as disappointed as I am about TFA, I'm trying to keep my chin up and my heart and mind open to the next bit of direction the Lord will throw at me (if He could do it sooner rather than later that would be awesome....).
Well, as mentioned earlier, school starts tomorrow...yay school.
Mmmk...I'm outty.
~MW
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Summer, fleeting summer
As I sit here in my nook at the lab after a day of busy runnings around in the Wharton Lab I realized something: My summer has been full and eventful, and yes, even exciting, but I got nothing done that I wanted to get done!! Yes I got some of the things I needed to get done finished up, but none of the things that summers are reserved for, like catching up on that ever growing book list, putting your artistic expression (as debatable as it might be) on paper/canvas/pottery/etc., knitting that thing you've been meaning to knit for months now and are quickly running out of time to finish in time, taking those strolls in the park/great outdoors (ok, I don't feel so bad about this one because it's been like a million degrees outside and I, outdoorsy as I might be, do NOT handle heat well - it's sad, but true), the list goes on. How depressing!!! (and, just in case you were wondering the word "how" is now typed "hope"...???)
How is it that in nearly three months of no real commitments to anything but work and moving, really, I have failed to accomplish anything I wanted to accomplish for myself?! I feel like a failure. This was possibly my last summer of "nothing" and I just wasted it. Dang. I don't even know what I did. I have experimented a lot in the kitchen, and that has been rewarding and educating, like my adventure Sunday night:
I decided circa 10pm, Sunday, that I was going to attempt to make some Pavlova, a dessert from Australia/New Zealand. Recipe is simple enough - basically eggs, some sugar, corn starch, and cream of tartar - no biggie. So I'm whipping up my egg whites into beautiful "soft peaks" (picture to be uploaded later) and I'm thinking: "Holla! I can totally do this thing!" Ah, key point: I was attempting this recipe without any sort of mixer aid - just me and my whisk. So, I carry on with the recipe with a little spring in my step from my success with the "soft peaks." Things were going great until I added the sugar and.....corn starch....dun, dun, dun, dun. Insta-impossible, right there! I'm beating and beating and beating this mixture trying to get some semblance of a meringue out of it, to no real avail. After beating my heart out for a little over 15min I give up and decided it's good enough for me - so I don't quite have the "stiff peaks" the recipe calls for, but I do have droopy peaks!!! That's gotta count for something, right?? Apparently not. I divvied everything up and threw it in the oven. So, the taste wasn't bad, though a little over-done, the consistency was just all wrong. Blast you stiff peaks any my weak arms!! While it wasn't a complete failure, it was definitely nowhere near a success. I'm going to need to invest in some sort of hand mixer, at least, if I am going to attempt anymore "whipping" desserts. Now I know why the moms of old were so buff!!! To try to redeem myself I made a little raspberry reduction sauce to go with my sad Pavlova and I think it worked. It was de-lish!
Since the Pavlova only called for egg whites, I was left with 6...SIX!!...egg yolks. I couldn't bear to let them go to wast so I decided that I would save them 'til Monday and make some creme brulee with them. **and here enter the yummms, and mmmms, from the readers** Well, I did not realize that creme brulee was so high maintenance and has decided that it needs to sit over-night before it can be fired...LAME! Well, so we shall see how the broiling goes for it later tonight. I'm excited!! I really hope it works! I've never used a broiler before, but I'm hoping that having a gas stove will make it near the awesomeness of having a torch - if only I were that amazing of a cook to warrant having my own torch. *sigh* ....Maybe someday.
Either way this is turning out to be a good week. Angela came in town yesterday and will be here 'til Thursday. And, Miss Mika arrived today and will leave tomorrow afternoon/evening: I love having house guests! Angela and I are going to see a movie tonight; 500 Days of Summer, I believe! So that will be fun times, for sure. I just love that girl.
Oh, my hummer greeted me this morning before I left for work, it made my heart happy - I'll snap a picture of that little bugger if it's the last thing I do!!!
Signing off. 'Til next time!
~MW
How is it that in nearly three months of no real commitments to anything but work and moving, really, I have failed to accomplish anything I wanted to accomplish for myself?! I feel like a failure. This was possibly my last summer of "nothing" and I just wasted it. Dang. I don't even know what I did. I have experimented a lot in the kitchen, and that has been rewarding and educating, like my adventure Sunday night:
I decided circa 10pm, Sunday, that I was going to attempt to make some Pavlova, a dessert from Australia/New Zealand. Recipe is simple enough - basically eggs, some sugar, corn starch, and cream of tartar - no biggie. So I'm whipping up my egg whites into beautiful "soft peaks" (picture to be uploaded later) and I'm thinking: "Holla! I can totally do this thing!" Ah, key point: I was attempting this recipe without any sort of mixer aid - just me and my whisk. So, I carry on with the recipe with a little spring in my step from my success with the "soft peaks." Things were going great until I added the sugar and.....corn starch....dun, dun, dun, dun. Insta-impossible, right there! I'm beating and beating and beating this mixture trying to get some semblance of a meringue out of it, to no real avail. After beating my heart out for a little over 15min I give up and decided it's good enough for me - so I don't quite have the "stiff peaks" the recipe calls for, but I do have droopy peaks!!! That's gotta count for something, right?? Apparently not. I divvied everything up and threw it in the oven. So, the taste wasn't bad, though a little over-done, the consistency was just all wrong. Blast you stiff peaks any my weak arms!! While it wasn't a complete failure, it was definitely nowhere near a success. I'm going to need to invest in some sort of hand mixer, at least, if I am going to attempt anymore "whipping" desserts. Now I know why the moms of old were so buff!!! To try to redeem myself I made a little raspberry reduction sauce to go with my sad Pavlova and I think it worked. It was de-lish!
Since the Pavlova only called for egg whites, I was left with 6...SIX!!...egg yolks. I couldn't bear to let them go to wast so I decided that I would save them 'til Monday and make some creme brulee with them. **and here enter the yummms, and mmmms, from the readers** Well, I did not realize that creme brulee was so high maintenance and has decided that it needs to sit over-night before it can be fired...LAME! Well, so we shall see how the broiling goes for it later tonight. I'm excited!! I really hope it works! I've never used a broiler before, but I'm hoping that having a gas stove will make it near the awesomeness of having a torch - if only I were that amazing of a cook to warrant having my own torch. *sigh* ....Maybe someday.
Either way this is turning out to be a good week. Angela came in town yesterday and will be here 'til Thursday. And, Miss Mika arrived today and will leave tomorrow afternoon/evening: I love having house guests! Angela and I are going to see a movie tonight; 500 Days of Summer, I believe! So that will be fun times, for sure. I just love that girl.
Oh, my hummer greeted me this morning before I left for work, it made my heart happy - I'll snap a picture of that little bugger if it's the last thing I do!!!
Signing off. 'Til next time!
~MW
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Troubled on some issues of the spirit...
Initially today was like any other Sunday, got up (later than planned), got ready for church, headed of to my dear Living Hope, worshiped and gleaned pearls of wisdom from the wise Butch, chatted with a few peeps, then headed back home for a lazy afternoon (I decided that if I start calling the apartment home more it will begin to feel more like a home and less like a temporary place of living...I think it will work). Took a nap that, of course, lasted way too long then headed up to Living Hope for this month's membership informational class.
I've been going to Living Hope for about a semester and all summer long and I really feel like the Lord wants me there for the remainder of my time in CS. So, naturally I felt it would be wise and fair to Living Hope members that I look into membership for this next semester. I'd heard that college students are generally allowed to hold a dual membership with Living Hope and their original Home church at "home" and this is what I had planned to do. As I was sitting in the class my heart was over-joyed as I listened to Butch talk to a room full of prospective members about how real and active the family at Living Hope is. Then he got to the becoming a member part, and here is where I am struggling.
So, here's a little background info I feel is essential to the understanding of this story. I was raised in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, and that is where my firm belief remains. Why am I currently attending a Baptist church, you might ask? When I initially moved to CS I, of course, started attending the University Lutheran Chapel, but after a semester of faithful attendance there I felt like the Lord didn't want me there. Me, being vehicle-less tagged along with friends to their churches that next (spring) semester and ended up attending Grace Bible Church from then up until two semesters ago when I felt like the Lord was calling me to find a church where I could better reach my full potential as a servant for Him, working with a group of people with the desires I have to reach people here and now. With that Angela and I tried out Living Hope. In all honesty, I really, really didn't like it the first time I attended and didn't go back for the rest of that fall semester. Spring rolled around and I was still at Grace, because I needed to be somewhere even if it didn't "fit" ***side-note: please try to understand what I am meaning to say and not what I am actually saying when I say things like "fit" and the like, I'm not all that articulate today***. I felt the Lord tugging me back to Living Hope, and I was like, "Lord! I didn't like it there...they talked during the sermon! I'm a Lutheran, we don't do things like that..." I, somewhat be-grudgingly, gave in to His call and went to Living Hope again. Surprisingly, this time I liked it and the interaction during the sermon didn't distract me like it did the first time I went, "...hmm," I though. Long story short, I have been faithfully attending ever since. But I am still a Lutheran when it comes to theology - therein seems to lie the "problem."
So, Lutherans and Baptists don't agree when it comes to a few theological issues like infant baptism. I was baptized on April 4th, 1987 and I consider that to be the day that the Lord's Spirit entered my soul and began working within me and growing me into the believer I am today. I do not believe that simply because someone was baptized as an infant and didn't "make that decision" themselves that they are being disobedient to the Lord's will. Why? Because I don't think we, as humans, can put limits on God, also, I do not believe that "conversion" (not that being baptized is point of conversion) is a decision, but rather the Holy Spirit working a life and spirit change within you. If it were a decision, wouldn't that be a work? Anyways, back to baptism. My baptism, though it was over 22 years ago, is one of the most defining moments of my life and I cling to that day when my faith begins to falter. Also, why can't children and infants have the gifts of baptism (forgiveness of sins, rescue from death and the devil, eternal salvation to those who believe - Mark 16:16)?? Acts 2:37-39 tells us that baptism is for all ages: "And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."" Who are we to say who the Lord does and does not call to Himself simply because those of us baptized as infants didn't decide to get baptized of our own accord? This last passage says that anyone who is baptized receives the gift of the Holy Spirit...And I firmly believe that the Lord breathed His Spirit and created me a new creation the day I was baptized. Also, infants have cognition, the Bible even tells us so, Luke 1:41-44. I don't say any of this in a self-righteous tone or to be disrespectful to Butch or to try to prove his teaching/belief wrong, theology is one of those things within the Body of Christ that the Devil definitely uses to create rifts and chaos in the fellowship of the Body. I am simply laying my beliefs and my struggle (below) out there.
But the whole point of this is that now I don't know what to do about Living Hope. I love it there and that is where I feel the Lord wants me for this next semester, but I thought He would want me to be a full member...unless I am baptized by submersion I can't be a member at Living Hope, and my being re-baptized would mean that I believe my baptism as an infant was null and void and I certainly do NOT believe that, at all. Really, I suppose I need to sit down with Butch and talk with him about it. I know I can be involved in a HOPE group without being a member, but I would like to be on a ministry team as well, and I don't know if I can do that without being a member. Unfortunately Butch will be out of town for the next 2wks, just my luck :) So, I suppose it will have to wait 'til he gets back from Africa. Oy, theology... Ah, well, it will all get figured out, I'm sure, I just wanted to be a member and start getting involved with things now. Bummer.
I've been kind of in a funk all afternoon since then. A lot of it has to do with Lindsey not being here all day after staying at David's last night...they came back for about an hour and then left again and I don't know when I'll see her again, she's not coming home again tonight...I miss my roomz :(
BUT! Angela and Mika come tomorrow!!!! SO exciting. I cannot wait to see them - it will be a good week :)
That's all for now, lovelies, I think I am going to go try to make some sort of sauce with some blueberries and strawberries I have before they go bad...
Blessings and Peace to you!
~MW
I've been going to Living Hope for about a semester and all summer long and I really feel like the Lord wants me there for the remainder of my time in CS. So, naturally I felt it would be wise and fair to Living Hope members that I look into membership for this next semester. I'd heard that college students are generally allowed to hold a dual membership with Living Hope and their original Home church at "home" and this is what I had planned to do. As I was sitting in the class my heart was over-joyed as I listened to Butch talk to a room full of prospective members about how real and active the family at Living Hope is. Then he got to the becoming a member part, and here is where I am struggling.
So, here's a little background info I feel is essential to the understanding of this story. I was raised in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, and that is where my firm belief remains. Why am I currently attending a Baptist church, you might ask? When I initially moved to CS I, of course, started attending the University Lutheran Chapel, but after a semester of faithful attendance there I felt like the Lord didn't want me there. Me, being vehicle-less tagged along with friends to their churches that next (spring) semester and ended up attending Grace Bible Church from then up until two semesters ago when I felt like the Lord was calling me to find a church where I could better reach my full potential as a servant for Him, working with a group of people with the desires I have to reach people here and now. With that Angela and I tried out Living Hope. In all honesty, I really, really didn't like it the first time I attended and didn't go back for the rest of that fall semester. Spring rolled around and I was still at Grace, because I needed to be somewhere even if it didn't "fit" ***side-note: please try to understand what I am meaning to say and not what I am actually saying when I say things like "fit" and the like, I'm not all that articulate today***. I felt the Lord tugging me back to Living Hope, and I was like, "Lord! I didn't like it there...they talked during the sermon! I'm a Lutheran, we don't do things like that..." I, somewhat be-grudgingly, gave in to His call and went to Living Hope again. Surprisingly, this time I liked it and the interaction during the sermon didn't distract me like it did the first time I went, "...hmm," I though. Long story short, I have been faithfully attending ever since. But I am still a Lutheran when it comes to theology - therein seems to lie the "problem."
So, Lutherans and Baptists don't agree when it comes to a few theological issues like infant baptism. I was baptized on April 4th, 1987 and I consider that to be the day that the Lord's Spirit entered my soul and began working within me and growing me into the believer I am today. I do not believe that simply because someone was baptized as an infant and didn't "make that decision" themselves that they are being disobedient to the Lord's will. Why? Because I don't think we, as humans, can put limits on God, also, I do not believe that "conversion" (not that being baptized is point of conversion) is a decision, but rather the Holy Spirit working a life and spirit change within you. If it were a decision, wouldn't that be a work? Anyways, back to baptism. My baptism, though it was over 22 years ago, is one of the most defining moments of my life and I cling to that day when my faith begins to falter. Also, why can't children and infants have the gifts of baptism (forgiveness of sins, rescue from death and the devil, eternal salvation to those who believe - Mark 16:16)?? Acts 2:37-39 tells us that baptism is for all ages: "And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."" Who are we to say who the Lord does and does not call to Himself simply because those of us baptized as infants didn't decide to get baptized of our own accord? This last passage says that anyone who is baptized receives the gift of the Holy Spirit...And I firmly believe that the Lord breathed His Spirit and created me a new creation the day I was baptized. Also, infants have cognition, the Bible even tells us so, Luke 1:41-44. I don't say any of this in a self-righteous tone or to be disrespectful to Butch or to try to prove his teaching/belief wrong, theology is one of those things within the Body of Christ that the Devil definitely uses to create rifts and chaos in the fellowship of the Body. I am simply laying my beliefs and my struggle (below) out there.
But the whole point of this is that now I don't know what to do about Living Hope. I love it there and that is where I feel the Lord wants me for this next semester, but I thought He would want me to be a full member...unless I am baptized by submersion I can't be a member at Living Hope, and my being re-baptized would mean that I believe my baptism as an infant was null and void and I certainly do NOT believe that, at all. Really, I suppose I need to sit down with Butch and talk with him about it. I know I can be involved in a HOPE group without being a member, but I would like to be on a ministry team as well, and I don't know if I can do that without being a member. Unfortunately Butch will be out of town for the next 2wks, just my luck :) So, I suppose it will have to wait 'til he gets back from Africa. Oy, theology... Ah, well, it will all get figured out, I'm sure, I just wanted to be a member and start getting involved with things now. Bummer.
I've been kind of in a funk all afternoon since then. A lot of it has to do with Lindsey not being here all day after staying at David's last night...they came back for about an hour and then left again and I don't know when I'll see her again, she's not coming home again tonight...I miss my roomz :(
BUT! Angela and Mika come tomorrow!!!! SO exciting. I cannot wait to see them - it will be a good week :)
That's all for now, lovelies, I think I am going to go try to make some sort of sauce with some blueberries and strawberries I have before they go bad...
Blessings and Peace to you!
~MW
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Saturdays :)
Oh Saturday, how I love you, but how fleeting you can be...
Well, initially today wasn't going to be all that exciting, other than swim time with the lovely Alyssa...but then...haha, you have to wait 'til I get to it!
So, I went to work for a bit and got some specimens a bit farther along in the curating process for miss Mika. Ugh, I had to do it without using a chemical hood, though (shhhh, don't tell the health & safety inspectors!!) and it was AWFUL!!! I'm pretty sure I burned the top layer skin off of my throat and nose...and my eyes burned sooo bad! Builds character, right?? Right!
Well, after that Alyssa came over and we swam around and attempted to catch some rays, of course as soon as we started to lay out the biggest clouds in the history of the earth (ok, so maybe not quite in the entire history of the earth, but they were huge!) decided it would be a fun time to come out and completely cover up the sun. The temperature was nice outside, though (what, nice temps in August, in C.S.?!?! It's true...) so we stayed out anyways. Well, and here comes the exciting part, we finally decided to head inside but much to our dismay found my front door locked!!! What?! Oi vey. Lindsey had come home and left again, locking the door behind her. We got ahold of her and she said she and David would be back from Wal-Mart in about 30min...more like and hour, but it's whatev. So, we decided to go back to Alyssa's apartment (she had taken her purse out to the pool with her - smart gal) for the time being. There we ventured through mylifeisaverage.com and got in some good laughs while waiting for me to be let back into my little apartment.
Lindsey left again and I took it easy. LeeAnn and Mel came over for a bit later on and we just chillaxed - they brought me food!!
All-in-all it was a pretty good day, I suppose. Really enjoyed my time with Alyssa.
Oh! So, for your viewing pleasure, here is a snapshot of my lovely new couch cover!!!
It's so pretty :)
Well, kids, I'm off to read for a bit and then I'm going to try to get to bed early - I think my insomnia is on its way to being cured again!!
Blessings!
~MW
Well, initially today wasn't going to be all that exciting, other than swim time with the lovely Alyssa...but then...haha, you have to wait 'til I get to it!
So, I went to work for a bit and got some specimens a bit farther along in the curating process for miss Mika. Ugh, I had to do it without using a chemical hood, though (shhhh, don't tell the health & safety inspectors!!) and it was AWFUL!!! I'm pretty sure I burned the top layer skin off of my throat and nose...and my eyes burned sooo bad! Builds character, right?? Right!
Well, after that Alyssa came over and we swam around and attempted to catch some rays, of course as soon as we started to lay out the biggest clouds in the history of the earth (ok, so maybe not quite in the entire history of the earth, but they were huge!) decided it would be a fun time to come out and completely cover up the sun. The temperature was nice outside, though (what, nice temps in August, in C.S.?!?! It's true...) so we stayed out anyways. Well, and here comes the exciting part, we finally decided to head inside but much to our dismay found my front door locked!!! What?! Oi vey. Lindsey had come home and left again, locking the door behind her. We got ahold of her and she said she and David would be back from Wal-Mart in about 30min...more like and hour, but it's whatev. So, we decided to go back to Alyssa's apartment (she had taken her purse out to the pool with her - smart gal) for the time being. There we ventured through mylifeisaverage.com and got in some good laughs while waiting for me to be let back into my little apartment.
Lindsey left again and I took it easy. LeeAnn and Mel came over for a bit later on and we just chillaxed - they brought me food!!
All-in-all it was a pretty good day, I suppose. Really enjoyed my time with Alyssa.
Oh! So, for your viewing pleasure, here is a snapshot of my lovely new couch cover!!!
It's so pretty :)
Well, kids, I'm off to read for a bit and then I'm going to try to get to bed early - I think my insomnia is on its way to being cured again!!
Blessings!
~MW
Naturally...
As I informed you yesterday I decided to go ahead and try for Teach For America - grad school will always be there, maybe just with different people and doing different things...only the Lord knows and only time will tell. But for now, I feel the Lord is leading me to keep pushing for Teach For America.
If I don't get it, well then that's ok because, quite naturally, as I had predicted, George Heimpel emailed me back about grad school in Minneapolis. But...as I was saying, if TFA doesn't work out it's ok because, George has a spot "for me" fall of 2010. Fancy that.
Oh life, you are so fickle.
On a more temporal note, my couch cover came in today!!!!! It looks amazing!! I absolutely love it. It's a little wrinkly right now, but it definitely helps to pull our little living room together. I had planned to snap a picture of it for your viewing pleasure, but Lindsey and I got distracted watching movies on her little TV - yay girl time :) I also unpacked TWO more boxes (little ones) of stuff for my room - all the good stuff, picture frames, crosses and the like.
Work was uber productive. I do have to go in for a little bit tomorrow, but not for too long. And THEN! And then, Alyssa and I are going to catch some rays! Holla!! I'm soooo excited to get to see her, it has definitely been too long.
Well my loves, I took my sleep stuffs about 40min ago, so it is time to close my sleepy eyes and try for a "good night's sleep." 4th night's the charm!!
Happy weekend!
~MW
If I don't get it, well then that's ok because, quite naturally, as I had predicted, George Heimpel emailed me back about grad school in Minneapolis. But...as I was saying, if TFA doesn't work out it's ok because, George has a spot "for me" fall of 2010. Fancy that.
Oh life, you are so fickle.
On a more temporal note, my couch cover came in today!!!!! It looks amazing!! I absolutely love it. It's a little wrinkly right now, but it definitely helps to pull our little living room together. I had planned to snap a picture of it for your viewing pleasure, but Lindsey and I got distracted watching movies on her little TV - yay girl time :) I also unpacked TWO more boxes (little ones) of stuff for my room - all the good stuff, picture frames, crosses and the like.
Work was uber productive. I do have to go in for a little bit tomorrow, but not for too long. And THEN! And then, Alyssa and I are going to catch some rays! Holla!! I'm soooo excited to get to see her, it has definitely been too long.
Well my loves, I took my sleep stuffs about 40min ago, so it is time to close my sleepy eyes and try for a "good night's sleep." 4th night's the charm!!
Happy weekend!
~MW
Thursday, August 20, 2009
PUSH....and I'm applying for TFA!!
Tomorrow is Friday! Tomorrow is Friday!!! This is exciting, because then I can play and maybe get a few more things done around the apartment/my room. I have a few canvases I've been meaning to paint and we need a clean/dirty dishwasher sign...so I have lots to work on. Plus I REALLY want to get some reading annnnd....I need to work on poli sci, awesome. But it will be the weekend none-the-less!
Work went pretty well today, had a little hear-to-heart with the boss about Teach For America, grad school opps, and possibly going to Dominica with Brendan to teach the kiddos about bugs for 6mo *yikes!!*, and he helped me kind of reason out why it would still be best to do TFA now - or at least try for it. I'm young, TFA will help take care of loans and I will be getting paid (minor, but important details), if I get stationed in CHI then I will be able to go to Champaigne-Urbana all the time (it's only about 2.5-3hrs away from Chi) and get to know the people at the labs there, plus Therese and Brendan will be getting established and maybe get me a better in with those peeps. The U of I people I'm interested in working with always have $$ floating around because they write killer grants, so there should, theoretically, always be a spot open for me somewhere there. I haven't heard back from Heimpel about Minneapolis. There are plenty of other places just as amazing as Dominica that I could do science/ento outreach with kids, plus I could maybe just go for a few months, instead of the whole 6... And I need to be able to go do and see things right now, in his opinion, and TFA would give more of an opportunity to do that than would grad school. Granted, putting everything towards TFA means I probably won't be able to swing going to the Entomophagous conference in France in 2011, but I guess I'll survive...
That said, TFA apps are due TOMORROW!!! I pretty much have it all done, I just need to clean up my resume a little and polish off my letter of intent, then I'm set! Crazy.
Well, other than that I had a little girls night with Lindsey and LeeAnne. LeeAnne made us some delish pasta and we watched PUSH - it was actually really good, except the ending sucked!!! They totally leave you with a million questions, but rumor has it that they are making a second one, so we shall see.
Well kids, I'm off to work on the resume for a little bit before calling it a night.
Cheers!
~MW
Work went pretty well today, had a little hear-to-heart with the boss about Teach For America, grad school opps, and possibly going to Dominica with Brendan to teach the kiddos about bugs for 6mo *yikes!!*, and he helped me kind of reason out why it would still be best to do TFA now - or at least try for it. I'm young, TFA will help take care of loans and I will be getting paid (minor, but important details), if I get stationed in CHI then I will be able to go to Champaigne-Urbana all the time (it's only about 2.5-3hrs away from Chi) and get to know the people at the labs there, plus Therese and Brendan will be getting established and maybe get me a better in with those peeps. The U of I people I'm interested in working with always have $$ floating around because they write killer grants, so there should, theoretically, always be a spot open for me somewhere there. I haven't heard back from Heimpel about Minneapolis. There are plenty of other places just as amazing as Dominica that I could do science/ento outreach with kids, plus I could maybe just go for a few months, instead of the whole 6... And I need to be able to go do and see things right now, in his opinion, and TFA would give more of an opportunity to do that than would grad school. Granted, putting everything towards TFA means I probably won't be able to swing going to the Entomophagous conference in France in 2011, but I guess I'll survive...
That said, TFA apps are due TOMORROW!!! I pretty much have it all done, I just need to clean up my resume a little and polish off my letter of intent, then I'm set! Crazy.
Well, other than that I had a little girls night with Lindsey and LeeAnne. LeeAnne made us some delish pasta and we watched PUSH - it was actually really good, except the ending sucked!!! They totally leave you with a million questions, but rumor has it that they are making a second one, so we shall see.
Well kids, I'm off to work on the resume for a little bit before calling it a night.
Cheers!
~MW
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Ah, Wednesdays...
Today was another day. I'm still an insomniac so it's been a little difficult to be pumped about much at all...I'm exhausted, but can't sleep - I love life! I really do love life, it's just tricky right now. But, I started my sleeping meds up again last night, so hopefully come next week I will be sleeping like a baby again. That's the bad thing about non-habit-forming, it takes a while to kick in. But that's OK. I have a very gracious boss who allows me to come in late when these goings ons occur in my life - thank God for him!
On a brighter note, today was the Baptism and Watermelon Fellowship Night at Living Hope! I wish I had been peppier to enjoy the mingling and meeting of a bazillion new people, mostly courtesy of the lovely Humphreys, but alas I was rather dull for conversation. However it was wonderful to see the Lord working tonight. My friend Travis got baptized tonight, so that was awesome to witness.
Came home to an empty apartment, which was kind of surprising as my roommate officially moved in today, but she came back a bit later with a bunch of our buddies, so it was nice to see all of them, especially the newly pronounce Mr. and Mrs. Cargill! Love them.
Well, my dear ones, that's all for now.
Lots of love and blessings to you all. I'm off to medicate and hopefully get some sleep tonight.
~MW
On a brighter note, today was the Baptism and Watermelon Fellowship Night at Living Hope! I wish I had been peppier to enjoy the mingling and meeting of a bazillion new people, mostly courtesy of the lovely Humphreys, but alas I was rather dull for conversation. However it was wonderful to see the Lord working tonight. My friend Travis got baptized tonight, so that was awesome to witness.
Came home to an empty apartment, which was kind of surprising as my roommate officially moved in today, but she came back a bit later with a bunch of our buddies, so it was nice to see all of them, especially the newly pronounce Mr. and Mrs. Cargill! Love them.
Well, my dear ones, that's all for now.
Lots of love and blessings to you all. I'm off to medicate and hopefully get some sleep tonight.
~MW
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Unpleasantly awakened.
So....I failed to mention something in my last entry, which is a sort of preface for this one, so I'll fill you in: I found a baby roach in my kitchen last night!!! Ok, let me be clear: I found a baby American Roach, NOT a baby Madagascan Hissing Roach - that would have made for a completely different story. American roaches are naaaaastay! They pretty much turn me into this little whimpy school girl who wants to die if one touches her. Yes, me, the entomologist is totally and completely GROSSED OUT by American roaches. Seriously, peeps, these things are crawling with germs and sick things so I highly recommend killing them dead on sight! *shudders* Well, let me continue with my story.
Circa 6:30 this lovely morning I am awakened by BigBoy (my big fluffy kitty) pouncing around my room. Initially I think nothing of it and figure he just has some wild, early morning hair. But as I groggily and blindly (glasses were in the bathroom...perfect.) watch him run and jump around I think to myself, "my, it sure does seem like he is chasing something real...." My stomach immediately sank as I recalled my horrifying experience in the kitchen last night: what if it's a roach..!?!?!? "Oh, this can NOT be happening!!! I cannot be having roaches running around my home!!!" So, I try to shine my cell phone light to see what he is chasing - because, I sure wasn't going to get out of bed and walk over to the light switch to flip on the light. When that fails I flip on my bedside lamp....BigBoy was, at this point, patting all around my jeans from yesterday. I'm thinking, "Great one of the few times I throw my clothes on the floor and there's going to be a roach running around in them" **seriously shudders**
Well, my fears were realized when I saw those two nasty little antennae followed by that horribly oblong, brown, crinkly (you know what I'm talking about if you've ever had a roaches legs stuck to you - alive, or dead), slimy body. I seriously wanted to cry - no joke. I know, I know, I'm a terrible excuse for an entomologist, but they just seriously freak me out!!!! thankfully in my laziness last night I also dropped my flip-flops on the floor right by my bed. I stealthily snatch up one of my flip-flops and wait in horrible anticipation for my villain to scurry *gulp* into reach of my "long arm." At this point if that nasty thing had somehow managed to touch me I have no doubt that I would have screamed like a little girl and most likely would have started bawling. *sigh* Finally the little devil comes close enough for me to whack it! So I do with all the force I can muster whilst awkwardly leaning out of my bed. Success!!! And I made contact! I am now rolled back over onto my bed, breathing deeply trying to chilax myself out so I can tromp across the apartment to get some paper towels to dispose of the nastiness that is legs-up on my bedroom floor, right in front of my bed. I suck it up and leap over the roach and promptly flip on ALL lights in the apartment to send any other lurkers into hiding (at this point I just would rather not know...) and make my way, cautiously, to the kitchen.
I come back to my room armed with TWO paper towels and a plastic grocery bag - this thing is NOT coming back to life, like roaches are notorious for doing, and wrecking havoc on my apartment/sleep again!!! After dancing around pathetically for a few moments I go in for the final kill and wrap up the nasty in my paper towels, flip the plastic bag over the bundle (I was definitely wearing the plastic bag as a glove...wow, I'm such a sad excuse for a 22-yr-old.), throw that bundle inside yet another plastic bag and tie that bag off about 20 times. *sigh* The deed is done, now I can go back to sleep. Except that now I am awake and can't figure out how exactly I want to go about sanitizing my carpets....Ugh, lame.
Well, needless to say that first order of business today is to go to the store and pick up roach traps/killing agents/something! Anything! This cannot and will NOT keep happening - this you can be assured of. Oh my, what a start to the day. Hopefully this doesn't set the tone for the entirety of the day...that would not be a good thing.
I am going to try to snooze for a little bit longer before I head into work since I didn't get to bed until about 2. Hooray for the return of my insomnia! If this keeps up for a few more days it's meds time, baby!
Happy Tuesday to all - I hope your day is roach-free!!
~MW
Circa 6:30 this lovely morning I am awakened by BigBoy (my big fluffy kitty) pouncing around my room. Initially I think nothing of it and figure he just has some wild, early morning hair. But as I groggily and blindly (glasses were in the bathroom...perfect.) watch him run and jump around I think to myself, "my, it sure does seem like he is chasing something real...." My stomach immediately sank as I recalled my horrifying experience in the kitchen last night: what if it's a roach..!?!?!? "Oh, this can NOT be happening!!! I cannot be having roaches running around my home!!!" So, I try to shine my cell phone light to see what he is chasing - because, I sure wasn't going to get out of bed and walk over to the light switch to flip on the light. When that fails I flip on my bedside lamp....BigBoy was, at this point, patting all around my jeans from yesterday. I'm thinking, "Great one of the few times I throw my clothes on the floor and there's going to be a roach running around in them" **seriously shudders**
Well, my fears were realized when I saw those two nasty little antennae followed by that horribly oblong, brown, crinkly (you know what I'm talking about if you've ever had a roaches legs stuck to you - alive, or dead), slimy body. I seriously wanted to cry - no joke. I know, I know, I'm a terrible excuse for an entomologist, but they just seriously freak me out!!!! thankfully in my laziness last night I also dropped my flip-flops on the floor right by my bed. I stealthily snatch up one of my flip-flops and wait in horrible anticipation for my villain to scurry *gulp* into reach of my "long arm." At this point if that nasty thing had somehow managed to touch me I have no doubt that I would have screamed like a little girl and most likely would have started bawling. *sigh* Finally the little devil comes close enough for me to whack it! So I do with all the force I can muster whilst awkwardly leaning out of my bed. Success!!! And I made contact! I am now rolled back over onto my bed, breathing deeply trying to chilax myself out so I can tromp across the apartment to get some paper towels to dispose of the nastiness that is legs-up on my bedroom floor, right in front of my bed. I suck it up and leap over the roach and promptly flip on ALL lights in the apartment to send any other lurkers into hiding (at this point I just would rather not know...) and make my way, cautiously, to the kitchen.
I come back to my room armed with TWO paper towels and a plastic grocery bag - this thing is NOT coming back to life, like roaches are notorious for doing, and wrecking havoc on my apartment/sleep again!!! After dancing around pathetically for a few moments I go in for the final kill and wrap up the nasty in my paper towels, flip the plastic bag over the bundle (I was definitely wearing the plastic bag as a glove...wow, I'm such a sad excuse for a 22-yr-old.), throw that bundle inside yet another plastic bag and tie that bag off about 20 times. *sigh* The deed is done, now I can go back to sleep. Except that now I am awake and can't figure out how exactly I want to go about sanitizing my carpets....Ugh, lame.
Well, needless to say that first order of business today is to go to the store and pick up roach traps/killing agents/something! Anything! This cannot and will NOT keep happening - this you can be assured of. Oh my, what a start to the day. Hopefully this doesn't set the tone for the entirety of the day...that would not be a good thing.
I am going to try to snooze for a little bit longer before I head into work since I didn't get to bed until about 2. Hooray for the return of my insomnia! If this keeps up for a few more days it's meds time, baby!
Happy Tuesday to all - I hope your day is roach-free!!
~MW
Monday, August 17, 2009
Dying!!! {in a good way}
The ceviche was TO DIE FOR!!!!!!!!!! Ok, just got called away, so I'll finish this later, but I just had to say :)
Ok, so sorry about having to run out earlier. My dear friend Therese needed some assistance putting Det. labels on her leafhopper specimens, after about 3.5hrs, though, I had to call it quits.
So now for the fun stuff. The ceviche. The CEVICHE!!! Oh my goodness, it was just as I remembered it - AWESOME! Even with the fudging in the pepper department. I'm not gonna lie, I am pretty impressed with myself. Next I'll have to see if I can swing the same level of delish-ness with a fish that won't break my bank, because now that I know that I can make it, I'm going to want to make it ALL THE TIME!!!
The roasted red pepper Italian dressing marinated chicken was amazing as well - definitely going to have to keep that one in mind for when I make chicken packets in the future. Hooray for experiments going well!!!
Well, that is pretty much it, my dear ones. Now I think I am going to attempt to get some sleep...my sleep schedule is so whacked out right now. :( Hope everyone's Monday was a great one and I wish you all a terrific Tuesday!!
Cheers!
~MW
Ok, so sorry about having to run out earlier. My dear friend Therese needed some assistance putting Det. labels on her leafhopper specimens, after about 3.5hrs, though, I had to call it quits.
So now for the fun stuff. The ceviche. The CEVICHE!!! Oh my goodness, it was just as I remembered it - AWESOME! Even with the fudging in the pepper department. I'm not gonna lie, I am pretty impressed with myself. Next I'll have to see if I can swing the same level of delish-ness with a fish that won't break my bank, because now that I know that I can make it, I'm going to want to make it ALL THE TIME!!!
The roasted red pepper Italian dressing marinated chicken was amazing as well - definitely going to have to keep that one in mind for when I make chicken packets in the future. Hooray for experiments going well!!!
Well, that is pretty much it, my dear ones. Now I think I am going to attempt to get some sleep...my sleep schedule is so whacked out right now. :( Hope everyone's Monday was a great one and I wish you all a terrific Tuesday!!
Cheers!
~MW
~*~ Adventures in the Kitchen ~*~
Well, after church today I came home and explored my fun new How to Know the Beetles book, courtesy of Josh and Ricci Humphrey. Super fun old-school beetle key, published in 1980!! Some of the family names and things have changed since this book was printed, but it's still amazing - another fun book to add to my ever-growing ento collection.
I then decided to take a little 30min snooze. Well, that 30min turned into 4hrs! I apparently needed sleep, but now it's 1am and I'm super awake...ah well, such is life.
When I finally woke up I decided to go run a few quick errands: Barnes & Noble then HEB.
I finished my sermon journal in church this morning and I had a B&N gift card so I decided to go pick up a new journal - got a cute "green" one that just so happens to be green...I like it.
Then I went to HEB, because, dear ones, I have been craving ceviche for about a year and I decided I was going to splurge a little and just go ahead and attempt making it myself. So, I picked up some red snapper (this was the splurge part...), a few limes & lemons, a red onion, Tabasco, and a pepper (it was supposed to be a serrano...but HEB was out and so I just grabbed a pretty green one that I thought might at least add some sort of flavor). I came home with my treasures in hand and a spirit of determination.
I don't have much experience working with fish...chicken, beef, pork I have pretty much down, fish is still a rather new realm to me - therein lie my adventure! I promptly got to work on the fish...this was interesting. I had 3 fillets to work with. The first one went horribly and the majority of the fish ended up shredded - not exactly the 1/2inch cubes that ceviche calls for. I was not giving up and I certainly was NOT throwing away that fish just because it didn't turn out all that pretty. Fillet #2 went a little better...the first half of it was about the same as #1, but then I got the brilliant idea to dice the fish into the cubes before I attempted to remove the fish from the skin!! That's the ticket, folks! I have no idea if that is the right way to work with snapper, but it worked for me and I got a ton more usable fish than I did from the 1st one. Fillet #3 was then a piece of cake. Ok, so my fish was taken care of, messy as it may have been. I then started slicing and dicing the veggies and such. All went smoothly from there on out. I added a bit of extra Tabasco since I was going to be missing the heat from the serrano - we'll see how that turns out. I threw everything together in the casserole pan and set it in the fridge to start marinating (it had to sit for an hour, then stir it up again, and throw it back in the fridge for several hours/overnight). I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow!! Can't wait.
Next I worked on some chicken I had - I just needed to decide what to do with it. So, since there was already an air of experimentation I decided to do just that! I first attempted some marinated chicken strips, using butter and an onion soup mix, then cooked it all up in a frying pan. Ummm...friggin delicious!!!
After that little experiment I used the remaining 3 chicken breasts and made my fail-free chicken packets: 2 standard lemon pepper packets with fresh lemon and tomato slices and one experimental roasted red pepper Italian dressing packet with fresh tomato slices....I haven't tasted that one yet - it will be dinner tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it turns out then.
After I finished all the "real food" adventures, I attempted to make some banana and date macaroons...that was interesting. Super easy and quick recipe, but I think I'm going to have to keep working on the perfect banana ripeness factor. I think my banana this go 'round was a little too ripe...made the mashing easy, but it tastes a little too much like banana bread for a macaroon. Flavor is still good, but I think a little less ripe will be better, and a greener banana might help hold everything together a little more nicely, as well. We shall see.
All in all, today was fairly productive...I didn't get to any plant potting, but that leaves me something fun to do when I get off work tomorrow. Now that it is nearly 1:30am, I am going to attempt to get some sleeeeep. I am tired, but my brain is awake.
Hope everyone's Monday goes smoothly and speedily!
~MW
P.S. - my hands STILL smell like fish...I've washed them a good 30-40times over the course of tonight *not joke* and they still smell!!! Gross, but funny, and evidence of my adventure in the kitchen :)
I then decided to take a little 30min snooze. Well, that 30min turned into 4hrs! I apparently needed sleep, but now it's 1am and I'm super awake...ah well, such is life.
When I finally woke up I decided to go run a few quick errands: Barnes & Noble then HEB.
I finished my sermon journal in church this morning and I had a B&N gift card so I decided to go pick up a new journal - got a cute "green" one that just so happens to be green...I like it.
Then I went to HEB, because, dear ones, I have been craving ceviche for about a year and I decided I was going to splurge a little and just go ahead and attempt making it myself. So, I picked up some red snapper (this was the splurge part...), a few limes & lemons, a red onion, Tabasco, and a pepper (it was supposed to be a serrano...but HEB was out and so I just grabbed a pretty green one that I thought might at least add some sort of flavor). I came home with my treasures in hand and a spirit of determination.
I don't have much experience working with fish...chicken, beef, pork I have pretty much down, fish is still a rather new realm to me - therein lie my adventure! I promptly got to work on the fish...this was interesting. I had 3 fillets to work with. The first one went horribly and the majority of the fish ended up shredded - not exactly the 1/2inch cubes that ceviche calls for. I was not giving up and I certainly was NOT throwing away that fish just because it didn't turn out all that pretty. Fillet #2 went a little better...the first half of it was about the same as #1, but then I got the brilliant idea to dice the fish into the cubes before I attempted to remove the fish from the skin!! That's the ticket, folks! I have no idea if that is the right way to work with snapper, but it worked for me and I got a ton more usable fish than I did from the 1st one. Fillet #3 was then a piece of cake. Ok, so my fish was taken care of, messy as it may have been. I then started slicing and dicing the veggies and such. All went smoothly from there on out. I added a bit of extra Tabasco since I was going to be missing the heat from the serrano - we'll see how that turns out. I threw everything together in the casserole pan and set it in the fridge to start marinating (it had to sit for an hour, then stir it up again, and throw it back in the fridge for several hours/overnight). I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow!! Can't wait.
Next I worked on some chicken I had - I just needed to decide what to do with it. So, since there was already an air of experimentation I decided to do just that! I first attempted some marinated chicken strips, using butter and an onion soup mix, then cooked it all up in a frying pan. Ummm...friggin delicious!!!
After that little experiment I used the remaining 3 chicken breasts and made my fail-free chicken packets: 2 standard lemon pepper packets with fresh lemon and tomato slices and one experimental roasted red pepper Italian dressing packet with fresh tomato slices....I haven't tasted that one yet - it will be dinner tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it turns out then.After I finished all the "real food" adventures, I attempted to make some banana and date macaroons...that was interesting. Super easy and quick recipe, but I think I'm going to have to keep working on the perfect banana ripeness factor. I think my banana this go 'round was a little too ripe...made the mashing easy, but it tastes a little too much like banana bread for a macaroon. Flavor is still good, but I think a little less ripe will be better, and a greener banana might help hold everything together a little more nicely, as well. We shall see.
All in all, today was fairly productive...I didn't get to any plant potting, but that leaves me something fun to do when I get off work tomorrow. Now that it is nearly 1:30am, I am going to attempt to get some sleeeeep. I am tired, but my brain is awake.
Hope everyone's Monday goes smoothly and speedily!
~MW
P.S. - my hands STILL smell like fish...I've washed them a good 30-40times over the course of tonight *not joke* and they still smell!!! Gross, but funny, and evidence of my adventure in the kitchen :)
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sorry for the lateness... (Plus Moving Happenings...II)
Hey kids,
So sorry for the gap between posts this week - it was crazy!!
So, I last left off telling you about how my mom had come into town and she was helping me spruce up my little apartment. Well, might I just say: mission accomplished!!!!
In my humble opinion it looks lovely! Things really started to come together as we put our noggins together and experimented with furniture arrangement, decor options, etc. I would post pictures, but my camera is currently out of commission...I need to pickup some batteries. So, maybe next time...
However, I must tell you about the best part of this apartment: I have a hummingbird friend!!! Oh, it is SO exciting! I put up this cheap little $6 hummingbird feeder from Wal-Mart and filled it with 97cent nectar juice and the next morning I had a hummer!!! Didn't see the little one for a day or two after that, but then I saw him (though I think it might be a her...coloration is kind of dull, but I'm really not sure - I'll let you know if I figure it out!) throughout the day on Saturday - ah, this is bliss :) I've decided that I'm going to invest in some bottle-brush plants to see if I can get any more.
My mom and I had a great visit and I was sad to see her go, but we both had to get back to reality...lame!
So, Thursday B and I went and took some engagement pictures of my friends Brad and Kira. These two are amazing. They made an almost exact replica of the American Gothic (the painting with they farmer couple and the dude holding a pitchfork) - it was perfection!!! So that was real fun.
Friday I watched some peeps graduate...summer graduation ceremonies are so short!!! After that I went to work for a bit and then had a lovely evening the Humphreys: We made THE most DELISH blueberry ice cream. Seriously, to die for....we were are pretty much in heaven. And we enjoyed some Planet Earth with our dinner and finished off the night with Mama Mia! Cute movie - I loved Ricci's sing-a-long moments :) After that my lovely Katie came to visit!! We ran around town a little bit on Saturday...we went and saw our old house: We have officially been shown up! So sad. After she left I sliced and diced and mixed and arranged some good eats for Kristie and Lionel's wedding with Patricia and Dr. Wharton - good times. This wedding was absolutely lovely! It was in their backyard, SUPER small, I mean there was probably about 20-30 people there. I mean, we are talking dinky! But it was beautiful and way fun. I just love those two people. Kristie my entomologist extraordinaire and Lionel her burly Aussie. Super fun stuff. Whew! What a whirlwind of a week!!!
Well, I must finish getting ready for church - I think I'm going to pot some plants when I get home this afternoon!! Hmm...and maybe go pick-up a bottle-brush.... I love plants :)
Happy Sunday, all!
~MW
So sorry for the gap between posts this week - it was crazy!!
So, I last left off telling you about how my mom had come into town and she was helping me spruce up my little apartment. Well, might I just say: mission accomplished!!!!
In my humble opinion it looks lovely! Things really started to come together as we put our noggins together and experimented with furniture arrangement, decor options, etc. I would post pictures, but my camera is currently out of commission...I need to pickup some batteries. So, maybe next time...
However, I must tell you about the best part of this apartment: I have a hummingbird friend!!! Oh, it is SO exciting! I put up this cheap little $6 hummingbird feeder from Wal-Mart and filled it with 97cent nectar juice and the next morning I had a hummer!!! Didn't see the little one for a day or two after that, but then I saw him (though I think it might be a her...coloration is kind of dull, but I'm really not sure - I'll let you know if I figure it out!) throughout the day on Saturday - ah, this is bliss :) I've decided that I'm going to invest in some bottle-brush plants to see if I can get any more.
My mom and I had a great visit and I was sad to see her go, but we both had to get back to reality...lame!
So, Thursday B and I went and took some engagement pictures of my friends Brad and Kira. These two are amazing. They made an almost exact replica of the American Gothic (the painting with they farmer couple and the dude holding a pitchfork) - it was perfection!!! So that was real fun.
Friday I watched some peeps graduate...summer graduation ceremonies are so short!!! After that I went to work for a bit and then had a lovely evening the Humphreys: We made THE most DELISH blueberry ice cream. Seriously, to die for....we were are pretty much in heaven. And we enjoyed some Planet Earth with our dinner and finished off the night with Mama Mia! Cute movie - I loved Ricci's sing-a-long moments :) After that my lovely Katie came to visit!! We ran around town a little bit on Saturday...we went and saw our old house: We have officially been shown up! So sad. After she left I sliced and diced and mixed and arranged some good eats for Kristie and Lionel's wedding with Patricia and Dr. Wharton - good times. This wedding was absolutely lovely! It was in their backyard, SUPER small, I mean there was probably about 20-30 people there. I mean, we are talking dinky! But it was beautiful and way fun. I just love those two people. Kristie my entomologist extraordinaire and Lionel her burly Aussie. Super fun stuff. Whew! What a whirlwind of a week!!!
Well, I must finish getting ready for church - I think I'm going to pot some plants when I get home this afternoon!! Hmm...and maybe go pick-up a bottle-brush.... I love plants :)
Happy Sunday, all!
~MW
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Moving Happenings with La Mamma! (Part I)
So, even though my last entry was me complaining about moving, it is pretty fun when your mom comes to help you set everything up.
Today we played it easy, unloaded the few extra boxes from her car, hung out with B for a bit (we needed his help moving a particularly heavy box that my mom's little wrists couldn't handle...not even with my help, and I couldn't do it myself - fail.), hit up Chipotle for dinner (she'd never been!!), and went to see Julie & Julia - SUPER cute movie. Now I'm itching to get my kitchen set up so I can cook my life away :)
Well, this is short, but we are sleepy and she is crashing on my trundle which is right next to my bed, so I'm gonna peace out.
'Til next time!
~MW
Today we played it easy, unloaded the few extra boxes from her car, hung out with B for a bit (we needed his help moving a particularly heavy box that my mom's little wrists couldn't handle...not even with my help, and I couldn't do it myself - fail.), hit up Chipotle for dinner (she'd never been!!), and went to see Julie & Julia - SUPER cute movie. Now I'm itching to get my kitchen set up so I can cook my life away :)
Well, this is short, but we are sleepy and she is crashing on my trundle which is right next to my bed, so I'm gonna peace out.
'Til next time!
~MW
Monday, August 10, 2009
Bruises and Doobs??
So, the moving process is always a fun adventure, wouldn't you agree?? Well, here's my adventure thus far. North Bardell to Dominik = not so awesome...
Over the course of the last 4-5 weeks I have been in the process of moving out of my gorgeous house on North Bardell into a little apartment off Dominik...and, in the process losing my amazing roommates of two years and getting a new one. Ah, change.
Moving everything out of the house into the gracious homes of about 5 other people wasn't too bad. Everyone was super helpful and accommodating (thank you, all!!). It's the moving in part that led to all the fun and games.
I moved in two Saturdays ago, and by moved in I mean I checked in with the management office, grabbed my keys, etc. dropped BigBoy in the bathroom of the apartment, threw a few bags and boxes into my new room and hit the road to Waco for Elaine's bachelorette party. THEN I came back to Aggieland and grabbed some boxes and things from B's spare room, set up my little pallet on the floor of my room and went to sleep in my Marmot sleeping bag.
I got a few more things from B's on Sunday and finished up getting ready for my final project presentation for my GIS class on Monday, and crashed on my pallet once more. Monday consisted of presenting, finishing my extra project (since I missed a week of class for the Entomophagous conference in MN), went to work for a few hours, and met up with Kacy and Justin to move my furniture from B's place. K and J were super amazing to drive up from Houston just to help me move - love them! We got my bed (hallelujah!!!) and the bulk of my furniture, all we were missing was the dining table, the couch and a chair. Pauler assisted me with the attainment of those Tuesday night, and rounding up the last bit of boxes from Tara's. The most exciting part of that was probably the HUGE bruise I ended up with from resting my uberly heavy dining table (which was housed at Pauler's) on my thigh...yeah, I'm awesome *dustin' off my shoulders*
Ok, so once I had everything moved in I started cleaning the kitchen cabinets and such so I could start putting up dishes and things...well, let me just say this: EWWWW!!! So, the 409 turned yellow when I sprayed it in the cabinets - yeah, 409 is clear... I also found a bunch of utensils and things that had been left on the top shelves by the previous tenants and were painted over by the painting crew. Awesome
But wait, it gets better!!! After pulling up the painted-over utensils and things, I moved on to another cupboard, where I found this:
No, your eyes do not deceive you...It's someone's old doobie!!!!!!!!!!!! Fantastic. I love apartment life! Builds character, right???
Oh my, what a trip it has been and the semester hasn't even started yet. But, my mamma is coming tomorrow to help me spruce the place up a little bit and make it livable - I'm just a tintsy-wintsy bit excited :)
Maybe I'll blog about the conference tomorrow....
Cheers!
~MW
Over the course of the last 4-5 weeks I have been in the process of moving out of my gorgeous house on North Bardell into a little apartment off Dominik...and, in the process losing my amazing roommates of two years and getting a new one. Ah, change.
Moving everything out of the house into the gracious homes of about 5 other people wasn't too bad. Everyone was super helpful and accommodating (thank you, all!!). It's the moving in part that led to all the fun and games.
I moved in two Saturdays ago, and by moved in I mean I checked in with the management office, grabbed my keys, etc. dropped BigBoy in the bathroom of the apartment, threw a few bags and boxes into my new room and hit the road to Waco for Elaine's bachelorette party. THEN I came back to Aggieland and grabbed some boxes and things from B's spare room, set up my little pallet on the floor of my room and went to sleep in my Marmot sleeping bag.
I got a few more things from B's on Sunday and finished up getting ready for my final project presentation for my GIS class on Monday, and crashed on my pallet once more. Monday consisted of presenting, finishing my extra project (since I missed a week of class for the Entomophagous conference in MN), went to work for a few hours, and met up with Kacy and Justin to move my furniture from B's place. K and J were super amazing to drive up from Houston just to help me move - love them! We got my bed (hallelujah!!!) and the bulk of my furniture, all we were missing was the dining table, the couch and a chair. Pauler assisted me with the attainment of those Tuesday night, and rounding up the last bit of boxes from Tara's. The most exciting part of that was probably the HUGE bruise I ended up with from resting my uberly heavy dining table (which was housed at Pauler's) on my thigh...yeah, I'm awesome *dustin' off my shoulders*
Ok, so once I had everything moved in I started cleaning the kitchen cabinets and such so I could start putting up dishes and things...well, let me just say this: EWWWW!!! So, the 409 turned yellow when I sprayed it in the cabinets - yeah, 409 is clear... I also found a bunch of utensils and things that had been left on the top shelves by the previous tenants and were painted over by the painting crew. Awesome
But wait, it gets better!!! After pulling up the painted-over utensils and things, I moved on to another cupboard, where I found this:
No, your eyes do not deceive you...It's someone's old doobie!!!!!!!!!!!! Fantastic. I love apartment life! Builds character, right???Oh my, what a trip it has been and the semester hasn't even started yet. But, my mamma is coming tomorrow to help me spruce the place up a little bit and make it livable - I'm just a tintsy-wintsy bit excited :)
Maybe I'll blog about the conference tomorrow....
Cheers!
~MW
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Ah, the blogger world
...how I have missed you!
It's probably been about 4yrs since I officially had a blog I kept up with (micro-blogging doesn't count). I figure now is a good time to start back up again, seeing as how I am entering a new stage in my life: my victory half-lap! Yes, yes, I am about to start my final semester at Texas A&M University, home of the Fightin' Texas Aggies. A-Whoop! This semester will be like none other, I guarantee you that much. 90% of my community base of the last 4 years has graduated and moved on...that means that 10% that is left is about to become very important and that 90% that is gone is already sorely missed. While my "family" seems to have diminished here in Aggieland over the past 2-3 months of the summer, the doors are wide open to add in new members and become even closer with the remaining original members. Those that are gone are no less important to me than they were while here, but now we must suffer the remainder of our lives with indirect communication... Has anyone noticed that it almost seems more difficult to keep in touch with people with these seemingly endless forms of communication? I mean, there is the "classic" facebook, email/gmail, facebook chat, google chat, blackberry messenger, aim is still around, skype/skype chat, twitter, various blogging communities, and of course texting, phone calls, and the beautiful yet increasingly more expensive snail-mail........and that isn't even a fully exhaustive list, it is however quite exhausting to review! It almost seems that the more methods of communication we have the longer we contemplate the HOW to communicate with one another, as opposed to contemplating the WHO to communicate with. Very odd, this plugged-in world we live in - very odd, indeed. (Don't get me wrong, I'm, sadly, completely plugged-in, but when you stop and really think about how extensively we are all hooked up to electronics, it really is exhaustingly terrifying!)
Anyways, as I was saying, this will be a semester like none-other. I've decided that this semester I am going to be much more involved with my newly found church family. After 2 1/2 years of attending a lovely church here with my lovely college roommates I made the decision to search for a smaller congregation made up of members who hold one another accountable and are not afraid to call out a fellow brother/sister out of love and concern for their spiritual health. I found that at Living Hope last semester. While I have maintained a fairly low profile for about a semester I am now convinced that this congregation is the place the Lord wants to grow me in my final semester at A&M. I have already gleaned immense knowledge and understanding over the course of the last semester and this summer, and I am excited to finish out the "Genuine" series and to see what Butch has in store for us as the year progresses. The emphasis on family and oneness at Living Hope is an absolutely beautiful image at what Christ described the Church to be. The sense of true brotherhood I see and feel at LH reminds me so much of the descriptions you see in the New Testament from Peter and Paul, etc. People taking care of people in earthly and spiritual ways. I am truly blessed to have found this home.
School will be different as well. My main classes focus on the plant kingdom, as opposed to the animal kingdom...a little bit of a change for me, but an exciting one, none-the-less. I love plants!!! I mean, I only have about 5 or 6 in my apartment right now, but I love them! And, one of them I have had for over 6years - oh how I love my little money tree. Talking about my plants reminds me of the common phrase "stop and smell the roses." When you really do stop, even just for a moment or two, and look at the greens and reds and blues and yellows and purples, etc. all around us on this marvelous planet, it truly is amazing! I'm fairly certain that the majority of us take the plant world for granted, as something that will always be there, and we never have to worry about losing...even in droughts, it seems that plants are just expected to be around. Funny how we get used to having things and forget about how important and precious they really are. But I was talking about school!! Hmmm...yeah, it's gonna be a lot of plants! I'm excited.
Welp, it is late. I am tired. Work will be here before I know it (yay...). I'm off to bed!
Cheers!
~H.
It's probably been about 4yrs since I officially had a blog I kept up with (micro-blogging doesn't count). I figure now is a good time to start back up again, seeing as how I am entering a new stage in my life: my victory half-lap! Yes, yes, I am about to start my final semester at Texas A&M University, home of the Fightin' Texas Aggies. A-Whoop! This semester will be like none other, I guarantee you that much. 90% of my community base of the last 4 years has graduated and moved on...that means that 10% that is left is about to become very important and that 90% that is gone is already sorely missed. While my "family" seems to have diminished here in Aggieland over the past 2-3 months of the summer, the doors are wide open to add in new members and become even closer with the remaining original members. Those that are gone are no less important to me than they were while here, but now we must suffer the remainder of our lives with indirect communication... Has anyone noticed that it almost seems more difficult to keep in touch with people with these seemingly endless forms of communication? I mean, there is the "classic" facebook, email/gmail, facebook chat, google chat, blackberry messenger, aim is still around, skype/skype chat, twitter, various blogging communities, and of course texting, phone calls, and the beautiful yet increasingly more expensive snail-mail........and that isn't even a fully exhaustive list, it is however quite exhausting to review! It almost seems that the more methods of communication we have the longer we contemplate the HOW to communicate with one another, as opposed to contemplating the WHO to communicate with. Very odd, this plugged-in world we live in - very odd, indeed. (Don't get me wrong, I'm, sadly, completely plugged-in, but when you stop and really think about how extensively we are all hooked up to electronics, it really is exhaustingly terrifying!)
Anyways, as I was saying, this will be a semester like none-other. I've decided that this semester I am going to be much more involved with my newly found church family. After 2 1/2 years of attending a lovely church here with my lovely college roommates I made the decision to search for a smaller congregation made up of members who hold one another accountable and are not afraid to call out a fellow brother/sister out of love and concern for their spiritual health. I found that at Living Hope last semester. While I have maintained a fairly low profile for about a semester I am now convinced that this congregation is the place the Lord wants to grow me in my final semester at A&M. I have already gleaned immense knowledge and understanding over the course of the last semester and this summer, and I am excited to finish out the "Genuine" series and to see what Butch has in store for us as the year progresses. The emphasis on family and oneness at Living Hope is an absolutely beautiful image at what Christ described the Church to be. The sense of true brotherhood I see and feel at LH reminds me so much of the descriptions you see in the New Testament from Peter and Paul, etc. People taking care of people in earthly and spiritual ways. I am truly blessed to have found this home.
School will be different as well. My main classes focus on the plant kingdom, as opposed to the animal kingdom...a little bit of a change for me, but an exciting one, none-the-less. I love plants!!! I mean, I only have about 5 or 6 in my apartment right now, but I love them! And, one of them I have had for over 6years - oh how I love my little money tree. Talking about my plants reminds me of the common phrase "stop and smell the roses." When you really do stop, even just for a moment or two, and look at the greens and reds and blues and yellows and purples, etc. all around us on this marvelous planet, it truly is amazing! I'm fairly certain that the majority of us take the plant world for granted, as something that will always be there, and we never have to worry about losing...even in droughts, it seems that plants are just expected to be around. Funny how we get used to having things and forget about how important and precious they really are. But I was talking about school!! Hmmm...yeah, it's gonna be a lot of plants! I'm excited.
Welp, it is late. I am tired. Work will be here before I know it (yay...). I'm off to bed!
Cheers!
~H.
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