A placed called Rainbow...

...for those of you who've been following since I made the trek to the Frozen Tundra, you know what that means...

I went grocery shopping!!

OK, y'all, I have to confess something: I way do not like grocery shopping.  Stores are never set-up in a way that is intuitive (or makes sense on any level in some cases), they are always crowded, and well...food (good food) is expensive.  That's 3 strikes...that usually means, "you're out!!!"  But, alas...we must eat.

So, I did it.  I sucked it up and finally went grocery shopping.  I hadn't been, but to get a loaf of bread and carton of milk, since my return from TX...shameful, I know...but, don't you worry, I ate...my cupboards were officially empty this morning, hence the need for a shopping trip.

But, my shopping trip did allow me to get some things for a little lemonade recipe I've been wanting to try.


Fresh lemonade.....

Fresh blueberry mint lemonade...!!!

 How pretty is that glass of drink??  B-e-a-utiful!  You know what else...?  It's deeeelish!
 And, guess what else!  It's easy peasy...lemon squeezey!  Bah-hahahaha!  I couldn't resist...and I apologize.

Here's what you'll need:
1c lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
3/4c sugar (I used white this go round, but I'll be trying it with cane sugar next - I think it will make it pop even more!)
4c water
1c blueberries (a good sized handful or two should do the trick)
1/3c mint (I just used a sprig of mint with something like 8-9 leaves on it. I didn't use the stem, but I suppose you could chop it up and throw it in the mix?)

Juice your lemons.  I used my Magic Bullet Juicer adapter and was able to get over 1c of juice from two large lemons. 
Add sugar and water to lemon juice.  Shake/mix vigorously, ensuring that the sugar is dissolved.
Add in blueberries and mint.
Chill for however long and enjoy!
recipe adapted from La Petite Coquin


The original recipe recommends letting it sit for a few hours to allow the flavors to mix and infuse more, but after letting mine sit for even just 30min it was wonderfully delicious.  I'll let you know how it tastes after sitting over night, though!




It has been a good night in the kitchen, to say the least.

It's amazing what having food on hand to cook with will allow for, eh?

My dinner consisted of this:

My variation of J Ponder's (from Ponder This) fried rice...what I wouldn't give for some of that goodness...and some Ponder company on top of that - to die for!

I've mentioned it on the blog before, but I like my picture from tonight better than the other one I snapped before.  No carrots this time, though.

It was fabulous, and the spicy went excellently with the refreshing lemonade.  Yum!!

And now, I'm going to settle down for the night with a movie, some chocolate, and another glass of that there lemonade  ;)

Nighty-night.

Shalom!
~MW

Ho-Hum...it's Monday...

Greetings, all.

So...as I am certain most of you have figured out...today is Monday.  Monday, Monday, Monday...you always come too quickly and last far too long.  Just sayin'.

Anywho, I have a ton of things I've been needing to blog about: the close of my second semester of grad school, summer, some things I've learned in the last year or so...the list goes on.  But, tonight, as it will most definitely be after 9 by the time I finish this post and I would like to get to bed a reasonable hour tonight, I think I'm just going to make this a short and sweet update.

Last week was hectic, but good.

Wrapping up the loose ends from BioBlitz, curating all of the specimens we collected in those 24hrs (with some help from the Chanimal - thanks, yo!), and undertaking the task of rearing moths after finding myself with a large amount of moth eggs on my hands kept me buuuusy! 

Aside from all of that I wrestled with Biota2 as I attempted the supposedly simple task of transferring my PC files to our lab MAC.  This used to be a simple, painless task...back in 2002...but, of course, the converter hasn't been updated since then and is no longer supported on Leopard or Snow Leopard.  Neat.  Thanks 4D for not staying on top of that...sigh.  So, after an ordeal of uninstalling and re-installing the software on my laptop (just in case something got messed up during the initial installation...it didn't), RW came to the realization that he had lost his license number for the program...awesome.  So, I called up the distributor to see if maybe, just maybe they could look it up for us - they could!  And they did!!  Whoop! 

They sent us the codes late Friday so I was able to get everything rolling again this morning.  But, I still have the issue of needing to take my database files between a PC and MAC.  So, first thing (OK, maybe 2nd or 3rd thing) tomorrow I'm calling them up again to see if there is a new way around this issue, if not...SW said she'd buy "me" a new MAC for the lab!!!  Holla!  Can I just stumble upon a ridiculously large amount of discarded cash so I can buy my own MAC???  Maybe?  Not likely?  Dang...worth a shot.  So, I'll let you know what happens there, because if the company says there's no solution SW said she'll purchase the new comp before the week is up.  {I kind of really want this latter option to happen...I know...I'm a terrible person.}

The caterpillars are...well...not fairing so well  :(  I walked in this morning to find large amounts of them...shriveled up and dead, dead, dead...depressing first thing on a Monday morning.  I talked to SW about it and she exclaimed in apology for not mentioning that they should have been transferred to a tupperware container to ensure that they didn't suffer from dessication.  Even though there were moist maple leaves and a damp paper towel in the net-cage...the air inside the building was still to dry.  Blast!  Ah well, learning experience.  There are a few survivors who are now nestled safely in a tupperware container...so we'll see how they look in the morning.  Fingers crossed!


Backing up a few days now.

Friday was the day I the majority of the fighting with Biota, but I was (pleasantly and humorously) interrupted from that battle by a text from SW that read something along the lines of:

I may need some salad

and photo board help. Do

you have time today? 

Headed home with the fixings 

and will call when I get there.

Thanks life preserver!

Haha...OK, so here's some background on that text.  Her oldest graduated from high school a week or two ago (it was actually a pretty fun graduation ceremony!!).  The graduation party was scheduled for Saturday the 18th.  SW was out of town through Wednesday of that week...talk about a brave mom!  Anywho, the 3 "men" of the house neglected to get any of the to-do list she had left from them to do for the week that she was gone so that she could focus on the actual party details once she came back in town.  Panic ensued on Thursday (I got a text that day saying she would see me Friday if she weren't jailed for killing offspring first!  Ha!  Gotta love it.).  I offered to help her with anything between Thursday and Saturday...and so came the text on Friday.  

After I got home from the lab I ran Jakers around for a bit and then packed up my crafting supplies and headed out to her place.  I had hardly made it through the door when her husband exclaimed, "Oh thank goodness you're here!  You're co-advisor is about to go insane!!!!!"  Hahahahaha...yes, I laughed outloud and saw the agreement mixed with furry in SW's eyes...poor woman - she was spent and still had dinner to make...for her family and 3 guests (they had two ornithologists (her hubs is an ornithologist) staying with them that night and then there was me).  I ushered her out of the kitchen and into the dinning room where there were mounds of photographs and poster board strewn about.  I told her as long as she gave me an idea of what she was going for I would do my best to finish the photo boards and then move on to whatever other task she needed done.  I thought she was going to cry out of sheer gratitude!  She set to making dinner and I put the photo boards together.  And then...we all sat down to a lovely dinner of grilled venison steaks with grilled veggies and potatoes...complete with a glass of wine - perfection.  Once dinner was over the boys all headed to the den and SW and I hung out in the kitchen and had girl time.  It was positively delightful.

Saturday was another full day!  It started with an egg roll making party at my place (Ummm...so awesome...and no...I didn't take any pictures.  I know!  I'm sorry!!!) which took a good part of the day and then we stuffed our faces with a ton of egg rolls.  We made somewhere in the range of 70-80...there were 12 left...There were about 8 of us altogether...ha.  After that ordeal came to a close a number of us made the trek over to SW's for the graduation party, complete with much more food....and....CAKE POPS!!!!  We all slept well that night.

Sunday was another day, but a blessed one at that.  I got to visit with Skate and talk to my pops and see all of my loves at church.  Win, win, win!

There's the latest and greatest...how's that for short?  Ha...I just kept remembering more and more things that I felt were blog worthy!!  

OK, for reals, I'm closing this post with a farewell and good night.

Praying blessings upon you.

Shalm,

~MW

What weekend...?

Happy Sunday, lovely readers.

Praying the Lord has blessed you on His day and that your weekend has been filled to the brim with R&R and maybe some productivity...maybe?  ;)

My weekend has been...looong...but good!

Friday
Friday got off to an early start as I finished my 3rd (and hopefully final) prelim exam for my program.  Once that bad boy was finished it was time to kick it into hyperdrive to finish getting everything ready for BioBlitz which kicked off at 5pm that night.

All of my gear, before heading up to campus to get the

nets, kill jars, etc...  {minus my magazine basket, of course...}

What on earth is BioBlitz?!  

BioBlitz is a 24hr survey of the biodiversity of a given area.  It's something I got involved with at A&M and I was very pleased to discover that SW is one of the big participants here in the Frozen Tundra - win!  Aside from trying to document all the different plants, fungi, birds, toads/lizzards/snakes, insects, mammals, etc...BioBlitz aims to involve the community in discovering and learning about the natural history of the area.  <-- This is one of my favorite parts of BioBlitz - the community outreach.  Love it!

A bunch of us packed up and headed on out to the Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area (try saying that one 10 times fast!) to get light traps and overnight traps set-up before taking to the woods and fields to try to collect any insects we came across while it was still daylight/dusk.  Sadly, we had a cold front blow through this weekend, and Friday night proved to be pretty poor collecting conditions...the pickins were slim, to say the least.  We DID, however, find a gorgeous mating pair of Spilosoma virginica (a tiger moth - arctiid) and closed the night around 11pm with the capture (With my bare hand! I'd already packed up my gear for the night!) of a handsome male Ctenucha virginica (another type of tiger moth) - such a gorgeous guy.  It was very exciting and made getting drenched while collecting in the rain well worth it  :)

Saturday
Started the day with another early morning and headed back out to the Ordway Area.  We had much more success collecting insects on Saturday than we did on Friday.  This was great, except that we had to spend a good portion of our day collecting so we didn't have as much time to ID and curate...made for a bit of a time crunch as 5pm approached quickly.  STRESS!  And, since I still haven't recovered from the trip to TX (no time to sleep!) my body was fading fast...and I quickly lose nearly all patience when I'm tired...no bueno, friends, no bueno.  Fortunately, Corey the Dynamo was there to help keep me sane  :)

There were a few kiddos who came out and wanted to know lots of things about bugs and wanted to show us all of the insects they had collected.  So great!  There was one little boy who was probably about 4 and he kept bringing me all these little rocks and mosses along with insects...it was so fun.  Another little girl, maybe 8 or 9, brought a lady beetle (ladybug) and a mirid (plant bug) and wanted us to ID them for her.  The bug was one we hadn't collected yet so she let us keep it.  I showed her how we put the insects in our special jars (kill jars...glass jars with plaster paris in the base that is charged with ethyl acetate...basically euthanizes them) that put them to sleep and then they die so that we can put them on pins...if we put them on pins when they are still awake it doesn't feel very nice and their little legs will move all around.  So I walked her through that process and she was so excited to see the art of insect pinning and thought her little bug looked very nice on its new pin, all set to go into the collection.  Before she left she surprised me with the biggest hug...I nearly died.  It was just what I needed - I was starving at that point and wanted nothing more than to go home, eat, shower, and sleep...she granted me a pleasant distraction from ID'ing and pinning at record speeds to teach...and blessed me with a hug.  So precious!

The rest of the day was non-stop pinning and ID'ing and....databasing...my faaaaavorite thing eeeeeever....not.  But, we got it done, with about 105 morphospecies to report!  Which was good, considering the weather conditions!

After cleaning everything up and loading up the cars and trucks and things everyone cleared out and my crew and I embarked on our "roadtrip" back home (OK, so it was only a 30min drive...) so we could drop everything back off at campus and actually go home.  (We found out a little secret about our building, too!! BONUS!)

I ran by the Rainbow and grabbed some essentials...yes, cut flowers are essential from time to time  =)  Popped by RedBox, grabbed True Grit and headed home to settle in for the evening.

Dynamo and CashSmock came over and joined me for the rest of True Grit and Corey had fun riling Jakers up every time he had settled down...he thought it was fun  ;)  Then it was BED TIME.

Sunday
Woke up with quite the migraine that I've been fighting all day...I reckon that's a testament to my exhaustion and need to stop.  If you won't find the time to stop when you need to...your body will force you to stop.  OK, body, OK.  So I took today easy and didn't do much of anything - it was nice and much needed.

Finally decided I should make a real meal of sorts around dinner time...but since I only picked up the bare essentials from Rainbow I had to use my throbbing noggin to figure something out.  So, what did I come up with??

Chickpeas + diced tomatoes + onions + a bunch of spices 

+ a side of rice = quite a tasty dish 

(and pretty good for you, too!)

I tossed my onions in the pan first with some sesame oil, once they went translucent I added in my tomatoes, chickpeas, spices, and covered it in water and set it to boil.  Then I simmered it all until the liquid evaporated off some and thickened some.
For spices I used ground cumin, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, chili powder, ground red pepper, and salt and black pepper.
Spooned some of the chickpea mixture and sauce over a bowl of rice and voila! you have a cheap, easy, tasty (filling!) dinner.

I was hoping that eating something substantial would help kick the headache, but no such luck  :-/  It's starting to dull now, though.

So, my dears, with that, I am going to leave you and am calling it a night.

Blessings upon you as you tackle another Monday!!

Shalom,
~MW

P.S. - GO MAVS!!!

"I'm too lazy to come up with a title and actually forgot one initially...."

Hello, lovebugs.

How's life? Marvelous, I hope.

So...remember a few weeks back when I posted that huge long post where I talked about a buuunch of stuffs, including my ventures to Town Talk and a quick brush-over on fair trade vs. ethical trade? Well, if not, you can refresh your memory here. My amazing big brother who is much more well-versed in these topics than I am gave a little more insight into Celestial Seasonings as a company. Here's what he had to say (very good to know):

As for celestial seasonings, it really depends on how deep you're willing to go. celestial seasonings is owned by the hain celestial group, which is a publicly traded company with majority ownership going to heinz, and other large shareholders being exxon-mobile, phillip morris, monsanto, citigroup, walmart, and lockheed martin. all of these companies are unethical. that means that every product you buy from hain celestial puts money into the pockets of big tobacco, the war industry, the (arguably) most insidious agricultural company in the world, one of the largest oil companies (environmental destuction much? talk about the opposite of stewardship...), a company responsible for the collapse of of the u.s. small business domain and the transference of work and vast sums of money out of our local economies and directly to china, and a financial institution that received enormous bailout monies (to the tune of the u.s. government covering 90% of it's losses on it's $335 billion portfolio), who's largest single shareholder is the prince of saudi arabia, and who awarded approx. 1200 employees bonuses ranging from $1 million to $10 million *EACH* after it received bailout money. on the surface celestial seasonings may seem like an ethical choice, but you don't have to dig too deeply to see some of the problems with supporting this company. but like i said, it really depends on how deep you want to go with it.

So, for those of you who were wondering, there you have it - a run-down of who Celestial Seasonings is...kinda depressing, but good to know.

Let's see, what else is there to say...

OH! The J-Man did an outstanding job opening night of Anybody Out There? The kid was pulled into the show last minute and had a week to learn an entire role...he's awesome...just sayin'. The entire show was a hit, but my did that thief steal the show?! (It's funny cause he played a thief...hahaha...ok, I'll stop now) All the kiddos did a great job. I love that they all know me now and always come see how I liked the show or if they see me before the show starts come say how excited they are that I'm there to watch it and hope I enjoy the show - they -- are -- awesome! I also get lots of hugs from them, which is always a plus :]

{I'm not ridiculously proud of my little brother or anything...}

And, tomorrow, Fariz has a trumpet competition that the public is allowed to watch! Who's excited?!?! =] I'm pumped to see (er...hear??) how he does - he tells me that he has a solo in the first piece and a duet and TWO solos in the second one!! Yeah...he's kind of a big deal.

I am officially done getting all of my TB tests out of the way for the U, I sent my final transcript in, have all of my letters, now it's just a matter of filling out some final paper work and finding a place where I, BigBoy, Jakers, Little Bubba & Tevye, and Squishy (if he's still around...) can crash...that won't break the little bank of this future grad student, haha. I'm optimistic, for sure. I've found quite a few places that allow cats and doggies (the kicker on the dogs is the weight limit...Jake is not under 25lbs, hmmm...)....and the roaches and beetles....well, we just won't tell them about those dudes - they really don't need to know ;)

Nothing new on the car search front...contemplated looking at a **little** Toyota Echo, anyone familiar with them?? The estimated gas mileage is AWESOME!! We'll see, I'm taking this as slowly as possible. While poor old Cornelius is in no condition to brave the frozen tundra with me he is still running, so a "new" car is not imperative at this moment in time.

Welps...I'm hungry, so I'm outty. Lata!

Shalom,
~MW

P.S. - here's Josh's latest Man Talk post.

Wata, wata...and chickens!!

Soooo sorry for the crazy long time between posts...myyyy bad. I needed a little break...and I was busy in CS all last week ;)

So, what are we going to talk about today?? Water...and some chickies.

Water
So...have you ever stopped and thought about how many plastic water bottles you we throw away yearly, monthly, weekly...daily?? Take a look at this article posted on MSNBC March of 2005 (you can imagine how much the numbers have changed in the last 5 years). The numbers are astounding... Sure, we use recycled plastic water bottles to make lots of stuff, but the article makes a good point when it says that, "...most bottled water is consumed away from home, usually at a park, in an office or even while driving — areas where there's usually no recycling." So true...think about it. Where are you when you usually guzzle down that "crystal clear" water? Where there isn't a recycling bin...there is an astounding number of homes that aren't equipped with recycling bins either... Problem? I'd say yes. So...what are we to do about this? Buy sturdy, long-lasting water bottles! I know, I know there is always the scare of purchasing a long-lasting plastic water bottles because of the fear of BPAs (this is also popping up in aluminum bottles)...do your research before you buy it, kids - most bottles now-a-days will tell you right on the package if they are BPA free; if you don't believe them do some digging around on the interwebs...take like 15min and check stuff out before you buy it. BUT, if you want something totally risk-free, then I'd say you are making excellent use of your time in reading through this blog post right now!! Check this out:

Pangea Water Bottles and Klean Kanteens are both eco-friendly companies that make 18/8 food-grade stainless-steel, reusable, recyclable, sturdy water bottles!

Pangea's mission is to take profits from their water bottle sales and drill water wells in developing countries so that the people in those communities can have clean water essentially at their fingertips! They won't have to walk miles to just get some sort of water (usually dirty) allowing them to go to school, work, and so much more. Not to mention that these wells go deep so the water is clean, which means less chances of illness, which means fewer premature deaths!! What an awesome idea, yah? AND, for you Texans, it was founded right down/across/up the way in Waco by a Baylor grad - cool.
Klean Kanteen has been around for quite a while now. They started in 2004 in Chico, CA (Plug for my Chico readers!). Their story is pretty cool in that it was a group of Chicoans (what doooo you call yourselves??) putting together resources from a local hardware store to make their own eco-friendly reusable water bottles. Neat!! Their little business has absolutely exploded into a ginormous global name - while still maintaining fair labor standards that are important to the heart of their business. Props, kids, props.
Sooooo...if you're in the market for a non-earth killing water bottle (which we all should be...hello stewardship of the earth...) check these two companies ooooout! Both have great heart and ideas. Take care of our world and it's peeps, yo!


Chickens!
Now, for the chickies! So, not sure if any of you keep up with the Organic Consumers Association (you should), but they posted this video today and I had to share it:

So yeah...think about it. Think about those chickies you are gobbling up and where they come from - remember my post referencing Josh's Food, Inc. post?? This is the same concept.


Hokay! G'night!

Shalom!
~MW

P.S. - check this out!! Crazy that buying raw milk via milk clubs could become illegal...

Oh, haylo!

Happy Friday, all! I trust you are having/have had a blessed day in our Savior. I know I certainly have...it's the little things, fo sho.

Anywho, how are you? What's new and exciting in your life? What can I be going to the Lord in prayer about for you? How are you??

I have a confession to make...wait for it...wait for it... Ok, here it is:

I am incredibly out of shape...INCREDIBLY.

That said, I have something to, errr...brag {?} about... I STARTED WORKING OUT THIS WEEK!! Whoop! So, I knew I was terribly out of shape before I started working out, but when you do a very rigorous modest workout circa 9am and are already feeling that tell-tale achy soreness by oh...4pm that afternoon, that's when you know - you're pathetically out of shape - there's just no other way to describe it. But, even though I am still in ridiculous pain today...I still did my workout! I'm not gonna lie...I almost decided against the multi-stop push-ups today, though...We hatesss them precioussss! But, I am proud to say that I pushed through them! {Haha...pun!} I'm contemplating adding in running next week...we'll see how that goes :D

Yesterday, after our weekly breakfast date with Chamilton, Catia and I hit-up Town Talk to peruse their latest loot! Them was dangerous waters, they were...! But, we were very proud of our discounted purchases...and our exercised restraint when it came to saying "no" to some of our desired booty. I came away with some delicious bries and some hummus and some **fresh** rosemary {Oh, it's heavenly}, and teas. All for just over $6!! I was impressed.

A little mini-rant corresponding to the rant in my previous post: If you can't make/grow it yourself, buy fair trade! All but one of the teas Catia and I came away with were fair trade products - the other was an ethical trade product. So, there is a difference between fair trade and ethical trade. Ethical trade doesn't, apparently have any real regulated standards - they are generally left up to the producer, from what I understand. Whereas fair trade has heavy standards instituted across the board for any company that wants to carry the fair trade label. Ethical trade is still better than nothing, in my opinion, but I guess that's left up to the individual consumer. Anyways, the fair trade teas we ran away with are Saphara teas - soooo good. And, the ethical trade tea we got is actually Celestial Seasonings. Now, CS put a little blurb under their ethical trade "stamp" that says this:

We've been working to establish Sustainable harvests and fair wages for more than 30 years. By buying this product, you're supporting ethical trading practices that benefit the people and areas that produce our ingredients. THANK YOU!

Sounds pretty legit...and, after skimming their website, it seems the be a pretty well grounded statement. Anyone know any specifics about Celestial Seasonings? Other than the fact that they have a number of just plain awesome teas, haha.

Health Au Naturel! As many of you know I've been testing out numerous natural hygiene product recipes. I felt it was probably time to give you all a little update on how that has been going.

• Hair care: I started this out following SimpleMom's hair care regimen, but I just couldn't do it. The transition period was just too much for me. By day 9 or so my hair was in an absolutely horrid state - I couldn't comb through it and it felt like straw...but weird insanely greasy straw. It was just gross. So, I caved and washed my hair. I'm at a loss in the realm of all natural, at home hair care. In all honesty, I'm afraid to try another regimen...though I've contemplated giving SimpleMom's another whirl the beginning of May...we shall see
• Face care: Here I also used SimpleMom's regimen for the Oil Cleansing Method. Now, this I like. It's WAY cheaper than throwing countless dollars away each month to harsh chemicals in pretty bottles on supermarket shelves. While I still experience breakouts {like this week...ugh!}, and so must admit that I keep a supply of acne spot treatment {I haven't tried putting tea-tree oil in my cleanser yet, though...} on-hand, I am overall quite pleased with this one. My face feels awesome after I cleanse it each night and I only need a little splash of water in the mornings to "wash the night away." As far as using coconut oil as a moisturizer, I think I'm going to try getting my hands on some raw shea butter or coco butter instead...while I like the idea of natural antibiotics/antiseptic qualities (which shea and coco butter are supposed to have too) in the coconut oil it seems to be a little drying...how an oil can be drying, I don't know, but that's my take on it.
• Deodorant: This one just breaks my heart, y'all. SimpleMom's homemade deodorant recipe, which I have seen all over other blogs on the interwebs, is awesome. I mean, I absolutely loooved it. Yeah...loved it.
  Everything was going wonderfully - I didn't smell...at...all...and I felt like I hardly sweat at all...even though I really was. But, then...I started to break out in this horrible, horrible rash. I mean, it was bad - I'm still getting over it. I finally, after trying to just use Tom's natural deodorant while I figured out what to do about my little problem, decided I need to give my underarms a bit of a breather from any kind of anything under there, cause I was still either experiencing crazy burning or breaking out in one way or another. So, I've been deodorant-less for about 3 days now. Gross, I know, but honestly, I haven't been too wet, and unless I really get my nose up under there I don't smell. Ha, the J-Man discovered I haven't used deodorant for a few days and got uber grossed out - it was priceless. But, since it has been lovely weather and I really haven't been sweating all that much I know that once summer really hits I'll probably need a little something extra under there to help out.
  Here are my thoughts: either my skin doesn't like the baking soda (which I'm not entirely convinced is the main culprit, since I even tried decreasing the baking soda significantly) or my skin doesn't like the corn starch. I've heard that some corn starch has talc in it and that the presence of talc may have been the issue, but I made sure I was using a brand without talc in it...and like I said, even after significantly, significantly decreasing the baking soda (I mean, it was almost non-existent in a few batches), I was still breaking out. Oi, it was so painful.
  So, what is my next order of action with this issue? I'm dropping the corn starch all together and switching to arrowroot powder instead. I realize that if I really wanted to figure this out scientifically I would try just using corn starch, then just using baking soda, then just using coconut oil {oh yeah, I'm 99.99% certain that the coconut oil isn't the problem as I haven't broken out anywhere else on my body that I have used it, and I'm not allergic to coconut...}, etc., etc. until I find out which ingredient starts the reaction over again, but I'm not that patient right now, haha. So, to the arrowroot powder it is!! I'll let you know how it goes. Other than saying upfront that arrowroot powder is pricey! I paid almost $6 for about a quarter pound of the stuff...and then freaking Tobi ate like half of it...ooooo, I almost kabobbed that doggie when I saw my precious powder strewn around the living room carpet and his white little face to add to it all! Oh, that was a fun morning, haha.

Well, I suppose that's all for now, folks. It's time to call it a night - I'm judging an elementary school science fair tomorrow, so I need to get some shut-eye so I can be on top of my game with the kiddies at 8am tomorrow...barf.

Oh...I GOT MY OFFICIAL OFFICIAL ADMITTANCE LETTER FROM U OF M TODAY!!!! It's all official...I got my salary/employment papers yesterday, my departmental acceptance letter the day before that, and my totally 100% official university acceptance today...WOW.

G'night & Shalom!
~MW

P.S. - Happy Fightin' Texas Aggie Ring Day to all you Aggies! So proud of your incredible accomplishment!
P.P.S. - Do you like the new sidebar?? I decided to break it up and organize it all...it was fun, I won't lie =D
P.P.P.S. - Josh threw up his first Man Talk post tonight! Check it, men and boys on your journey to becoming men!

Yes, yes, I know...

****SEE EDIT AT END!!****

...It has been way too long since I last updated and I promised you all an update on the Minnesota trip, and, and, and...I know... So, here goes! Hold on to your horsies, kiddies - a fast and furious ride, this entry will be. {Haha, do you like how I just intertwined prairie with The Fast & The Furious with Starwars...blissfully awesome}

Minnesota! {Now to lovingly be referred to as The Frozen Tundra}
So, most of you are up to date on the fact that I went to Minnesota for The U's prospective grad student "Welcome Weekend" a few weeks ago. Now for how awesomely God moved over the course of 2.16 days {Exact enough for you??}:

* I arrive at the airport circa 8:30/8:45pm to be greeted by one of the faculty members {who also happens to be the woman I have been corresponding with and dying to work with...let's call her Lep} with a hug. Yes, a hug!! How awesome is that?! For those of you who know me in "real life" you know how much of a hug person I am. For those of you who only know me via the interwebs...I LOVE HUGS...like, seriously. I could hug people all day and it would never get old. So, if you ever need a hug, I'm your gal! ;) Anyways, back to the story...

* From the airport I am shuttled around the sleepy "town" to my host's apartment. I was kind of nervous about staying with an ento student who I didn't know...cause, if any of you know any ento students, well, then you know that we can be a little, er...odd. Haha. But, fortunately, Robin was absolutely delightful. A lifelong Minnesotan {I guess I should find out if that's what they are really called...haha}, a non-ento undergrad degree, and a current ento PhD student - we got along quite nicely. So that was another blessing to ease my nerves a bit.

* Day one of the "Welcome Weekend" began with a meet & greet amongst the other students who were there interviewing {I was like 2min late, because the bus was running late, and I missed all of the introductions...I felt so small!!}. Then we were presented with a talk on the Ento Department and the program itself - you know one of those selling presentations: here's our awesome history, what we are doing now, and why you should come here...cause we're that awesome. In all honesty, it was pretty interesting and nicely executed. Oh man, then they showed us their insect collection/museum!!! We all nerded-out hardcore...this thing is immaculate and HUGE!! They said it's the 2nd largest collection in the US, either on a university campus or overall...I can't remember which one it was exactly...either way, that's amazing - and it was SO COOL!

* Now begins day one of interviews. To my pleasant surprise it was all a double-sided interview. Not only was the department and it's faculty interviewing us as candidates for their program, but we were also interviewing them to see if they really were as awesome as we thought, basically. I met with 7...yes, 7 professors in one day. 7! Each meeting was about 30min long...and they became increasingly more exhausting. Saying the same thing about yourself over and over again and trying to be just as excited about it each time and then asking the same questions and hearing what that many people study and what they are involved in and what they do outside of research/teaching....geeeeeez! It was an incredible experience, but just as incredibly exhausting.

* Highlights of day one: That afternoon I met with...hmm, let's call him Tricho. Anywho, we were having an awesome visit and then he asks me if Lep has talked to me about him being a co-advisor for me. No...she hasn't mentioned that. He goes on to explain that he would like to advise me alongside Lep so that when she is detained by her 20billion other commitments I will still have someone on hand to provide guidance in my research should I need it. And that he was very excited to work with me throughout the next few years if I didn't object. I - was - dumbfounded. Totally in awe that professors have been discussing me and that not one, but TWO professors want to advise me. Wait, what?? Is this real life?! Um, yeah...it totally happened. In all honesty, I'm still in shock. I of course did not and do not object to this! What a blessing! Having more than one major professor can be a bad thing, but in this situation it will be awesome. Oh yeah...and dinner was spectacular...I already have a new
{though pricey!!} addiction, haha.

* Day two was a bit more chill - thank the Lord! I was totally wiped after day one. But, day two was by far the most exciting: Lep and I finally got to sit down one-on-one (well, with the inclusion of her recently graduated PhD student) and discuss my/our future as far as the next few years are concerned.

{Side-note: the few weeks leading up to my trip to MN were insane. I had really started to doubt what my motives for going to grad school were: Is this something I am just wanting to do so that I can say, "I have my master's in Entomology..."; or is this something that am following after the Lord in, in an effort to glorify Him with my life? I was wondering if maybe I shouldn't just go get my teaching certification and just head straight into teaching after my awesome experience subbing at PCA... Overall, I was very confused and was pleading with the Lord to grant me some inkling of direction, clarity, anything. I mean, I would have been happy with as little as a weird feeling, or something as minuscule as that. I was trusting in the knowledge of God's never failing faithfulness (yes, I know that is a rather redundant and repetitive statement, but it was intentional) that He would grant me some sort of something during my time in MN. Not only did He grant me an inkling, but He handed me a silver platter...all I had to do was accept it. How's that for a teaser?!}

So, we get to visiting, she shows me her lab, and all that jazz, and things are going smoothly. Then we get to talking about the grant, which includes talking about the project. Let me just say this: I'm jealous of myself, haha! No, but really, this project is beyond cool and I have huge opportunities to experience some once-in-a-lifetime things while I work on it. I'm stoked. {I'll fill you all in on some more specifics of the project later on...} So, I'm getting very excited as she is describing the history behind the project and everything it entails, and then she says this to me, "Now, I'd like to propose something else to you... {At this point God whispered, pretty loudly, to be honest, "Listen closely, Heather...this is important. Listen."} What would you say to getting a minor in Museum Studies while you are here?" Intrigued, I respond, "Sounds interesting...what all would that entail?" "For you, you would get a minor with an emphasis on education. So, you would take classes geared towards creating and implementing educational outreach programs through the museum setting. And, you would also take some curatorial classes just to learn the basics behind maintaining and building collections. There is also a built-in semester-long {I think that's how long she said it is} internship at one of the museums here in town {there are a ton of museums there}...most likely working on a current or developing a new outreach program with the staff...." OH MY BUSINESS!!! Are you kidding me?! Did she really just ask me if I wanted to learn how to be an outreach educator AND get experience doing that as class credit!??! HECK YES I WANT TO MINOR IN MUSEUM STUDIES WITH AN EMPHASIS ON EDUCATION!!!!!!! If you can't tell I'm beyond being ridiculously excited about this unreal opportunity God just dropped in my lap. That silver platter I mentioned above...I definitely accepted it. I wish I could have recorded my souls reaction for all of you as Lep was telling me about an opportunity to obtain an insane foundation for entering the education world. I was dancing with the Holy Spirit - haha, it was amazing. Needless to say, God granted me, ever so graciously, the direction and clarity I needed to know that He has indeed prepared this path for me. I cannot wait to see how He grows me throughout my time at The U. I'll be there for about 3yrs...yikes, that's a lot of intense winters in The Frozen Tundra, haha. Not too shabby - I'm excited to go on this adventure with my Heavenly Daddy. It's gonna be off the heezy fo sheezy! I mean, don't get me wrong, it's going to be beyond challenging, but it will all be so worth it. I'm stiz-oked!

So, that was Minnesota!

Of late! So...lately I have been working on some senior pictures with the J-Man. It has been SO fun! Mostly because it has given me a good excuse to spend time with my lil bro, and secondly because B loaned me his Rebel to play around with...soooo nice - I'm gettin' one! Haha. I'm in editing mode right now...it's pretty fun! I'll throw some up when I have more processed.

A rant! Haha, this is about to be another hold on to your horses moment, get excited. I'm not sure how many of you saw my post on Easter & Chocolate, but this is along those lines... My dear friend J-Hump, husband to my lovely Ricci of The Humphrey Happenings and Sweet like Spice, posted a ROCKIN' update to his blog Josh's Projects and Plans. {Do you think I included enough links in those two sentences?? Haha.} Each and every one of you needs to go read it - Christian or not. We all really need to stop and think about what we are purchasing, where it is coming from, how it is being made/processed, and whose hands are making/processing these things we are purchasing. I'll keep my ranting to a min so you can spend more time reading through J-Hump's...he executed his rant beautifully.

{Side note: For any of you guys out there who are desiring to be real men as opposed to the commonality found in our culture today of men being chick-dudes (© Butch Smith), I would encourage you to bookmark/follow Josh's Projects and Plans, as he is planning on addressing this issue on a weekly basis - it's going to be intense, y'all. But I can honestly tell you that Josh is a good man to seek counsel from in this area - living up to being a true man of God is something he definitely strives for.}

Oh, and back to the rant real quick, if any of you are looking for places to get good foods in an honest and raw way, check out this site for farms/ranches in your area: Slow Food.



Ok, I have officially spent too much time at the computer today...so now I will close. I feel like I'm forgetting to tell you about something or to talk about something, though...hmmm... Well, my beloved readers, if I remember I'll throw in an edit on this post or, most likely, devote a whole post to whatever it was I'm forgetting. That's all for now!

Shalom!
~MW



EDIT: I remembered what I was going to tell you all about earlier!! I kind of started to in my rant, but never really explained it...wooops! Anywho, I was going to tell you all about the lovely Ricci's new project/shop Sweet Like Spice. She has started making her darling camera strap covers to SELL! Guys, I know you might not be as pumped about this as us ladies might be, but hey...if you have a photographer mom, sister, friend, gf, fiance, wife...makes a great a gift! Hop on over tell her hello! Like I said, she's just getting started so show her some love and bear with her as she gets everything up and running. Also, if you act quickly there is a giveaway happening for one of Ricci's creations through Palermo Photography. Check it out!!

...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

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

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

~*~ 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 :)

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