Jul 30 2012

Past, Present, Future

Happy Monday!

We had on-and-off thunderstorms all weekend so I really didn’t get out to do much. I wanted to, but every time I planned to go out it would start raining, then get sunny, then rain…bleh!

I was going through old Livejournal entries for a while on Saturday. A friend of my friend who passed away (that I mentioned in a previous entry) is putting together a memory book, so I thought I’d be able to find some memories or events I had written about way back in there. Unfortunately I didn’t find much (most entries were dedicated to Shawn…and not all good things. eek), but it was really weird to read the things I wrote back in my freshman and sophomore year. I wrote so much. Almost everyday. Even if it was just a couple lines or something. I miss that. Well…I miss everything about that time (for the most part). I’m glad I kept a journal, even if it was an online one, to look back on. I wonder if I’ll look back on this blog 5 years from now. I’ll probably be annoyed with my former self for not updating very often, though I can’t imagine having a whole lot of nostalgia for this time in my life. Not that its a particular unhappy time…its just so…unchanging. I feel like I’m dangling in the air and waiting until I get to the “next step”, whatever that may be. But then again I don’t like change, so make sense of that haha.

But thinking about school made me want to look up possible options for Masters degrees again. I actually found a program that I may be interested in that’s offered by the University of Florida. Its completely online (obviously, since I’m not re-locating to FL) in Mass Communication with a specialization in Web Design/Online Communication. Its one of the only programs I’ve found that fits what I’m interested in that is from an actual university as opposed to those somewhat shady diploma-mill type of schools. I’ll have to do some more research into what skills I would get out of it and time requirements and such, and obviously will need to take the GRE at some point, but its good to have an option at least. Shawn thinks I could probably just learn everything I’d want to know from books or online instead of spending money on a Masters, but I just don’t have any discipline for that. I need something structured. I mean…my poor guitar has been sitting there for like 3 weeks now because I obviously have no self-discipline to practice regularly. lol! What are your thoughts? Waste/not a waste? It is a lot of money (that I can’t say I have). Hm.

I’m pretty excited about the vacation day I took on Friday and going to the beach with Shawn’s family. I don’t think I’ve taken a vacation day since…last September? Crazy. I mean…I’m somewhat excited that I took a half day on Wednesday to go to the dentist, just because its something different. How sad is that?? I’m sure that sentiment will be immediately forgotten when I’m actually sitting in the dentist chair with various metal objects poking my mouth.


5 Comments »


Jul 26 2012

Recipe: Pasta and Broccoli

This recipe is from SkinnyTaste.com :) Its incredibly easy and you only need one pot. I did add chicken to it, so that’s an option if you want.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, and then add pasta and broccoli to the same pot and cook per directions on the pasta. Make sure to set aside 1/2 cup of pasta water after it is done cooking. I completely forgot to do this so hopefully I remember next time! Drain pasta and broccoli when cooked (set aside) and add half the olive oil to the pot with garlic to saute until golden. After garlic is browned, add back the pasta and broccoli and add the remaining olive oil, cheese, and salt/pepper. Mix well and enjoy!

Optional chicken version: I added a chicken breast to mine to make it more of a “meal” so I did things slightly differently. If you want to use chicken, cut it into small pieces and saute it with half the oil in a separate pan while the pasta and broccoli are cooking. Add the garlic in with the chicken to saute when the chicken is almost done. Then all you have to do is add the chicken and garlic to the pasta/broccoli in the larger pot, and add the remaining olive oil, water, cheese, and salt/pepper. I also topped with some fresh parsley.


No Comments »


Jul 23 2012

The Good and the Bad

Happy Monday all (if Mondays can actually be happy…so probably not)

I had a fairly relaxed weekend (especially compared to the weekend before). I didn’t do a whole lot except for grocery shopping at two different grocery stores. We were completely out of food so I’m glad we’re stocked up again now haha

I’m sure all of you have heard about the shooting that happened in Colorado last week. Absolutely terrifying. Reports keep coming out about the killer’s apartment and how extensively it was booby trapped…I’m not even sure if they’ve actually gotten into it yet. So scary and sickening. On top of that, that night I found out that a friend of mine from college passed away. It was very sudden and unexpected and I was shocked to hear about it. I hadn’t seen her in quite a long time (I think 5 years?), but we were around each other a lot my Freshman year of college, and she roomed with me (and 2 others) in the same apartment my Sophomore year. Its hard to believe that she’s gone…and at such a young age. :(

I don’t want to be a total downer though, so some better news…I finally booked a vacation for September. Shawn and I will be going to Atlantic City (so, not exactly that far away haha) for 4 days. It should be fun and hopefully we’ll figure out things to do while we’re there since I don’t really want to be laying on the beach the entire time. I’m sure we will think of something, but at least we’ll be away and it’ll be something different. I’ll actually be going to the beach next weekend with his family as well, so there will be a lot of beaching this summer. I can’t believe its almost August though…but I’m happily anticipating the arrival of Fall.

I’m going to be making a new recipe tonight for dinner (this Pasta and Broccoli dish) so I’ll be sure to blog about it this week. I was going to blog about the mango sorbet I made this past weekend, but instead I’ll just post the video below that I followed to make it. I didn’t make any changes at all to it except for using regular sugar (3/4 cup) and leaving out the rose water since I didn’t have it. It turned out delicious! Rule of Yum is an awesome channel btw…you should subscribe :)


1 Comment »


Jul 18 2012

Awesome Weekend, Bleh Week

Yay for writing entries two days ago, getting distracted, and leaving them in my drafts! Anyway…

I had probably one of the best weekends I’ve had in awhile. I went to Virginia with my friend to visit another friend who moved down there a few months ago. She just moved into a new house and was having a housewarming party. It was definitely a nice change of scenery and I had a great time! It felt like college again, which made me super happy. Pictures are in the sidebar (Flickr).

The problem with good weekends is that they end, and I always get in a depressive sort of slump after. Usually it happens after vacations, but really any situation where I go somewhere else to stay for more than a day. I also think 48 straight hours of socializing (despite being awesome) has left me exhausted…as is the case with us introverts. I wanted nothing more than to not have to talk or interact with a single person on Monday. Luckily I’m a little better now haha

I should hopefully have up a new recipe next week since I’m planning on making something new, though I’m not sure what just yet (possibly alfredo sauce). I tried to make chicken enchiladas yesterday and it was a big ole fail. Well, the mixture was good, but I guess corn tortillas just don’t work with them as well as wheat ones do, because they split open immediately when I put the mixture in them. Ended up having the chicken mixture with rice and doing a casserole type thing. It was ok, but obviously not the intended result.

I keep forgetting to water my basil…the poor things are probably dead or dying :( Must remember to do that! I still feel like they’re barely growing (although, you know, watering might help with that haha).


1 Comment »


Jul 5 2012

Recipe: Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips

I don’t know if I should even consider this a recipe because its so simple…more like a “how to” I guess. I posted a delicious salsa recipe a couple weeks ago and have been having these tortilla chips along with it! Baking tortilla chips is so much better for you than the over-salted fried ones you buy in the store. It does take more time, but its super easy and customizable and I love eating them straight from the oven when they’re warm. Yum! All you really need for this are tortillas (either wheat or corn, whichever you prefer), cooking spray, an oven, and your choice of seasonings if you want to use them.

Preheat your oven to 350. While its preheating, spray your tortillas front and back with the cooking spray (you can also do this after you’ve cut them up, but I find it easier to do it when they’re whole). Then, stack the tortillas on top of each other and cut into quarters or your desired shape. Using a pizza cutter makes this super easy but you could use a knife. Arrange the chips onto a baking sheet (make sure they are in a single layer. More than one pan may be necessary) and season both sides with whatever you like. I used seasoned salt for mine, but you could use regular salt or chilli powder or paprika…there’s a ton of combinations out there. Stick it in the oven. Now, how long you leave it in depends on what type of chip you use and also what kind of pan you’re using. I use corn tortillas and leave mine in for 18 minutes total (flipping the chips over halfway through). If you’re using a flatter pan (which would allow more heat from the sides to hit the tortillas), it will probably be less time. Keep a watchful eye on them to make sure they don’t burn! They should end up being a golden color like the photo above (on right). Enjoy when they’re still warm with salsa or guac!


5 Comments »


Jul 3 2012

Fly Traps and Busy Traps

Well it seems to be getting to the point where I don’t really blog here unless I have something to say…which probably isn’t a bad thing! So in the future, expect rather sporadic posting =p (of course, the beauty blog is usually updated regularly).

This past weekend my family had their friends from Norway over (they were vacationing in the U.S). We went to Lancaster and did some touristy Pennsylvania things like visit the Amish farmers market and go on the Strasburg Railroad (one of the oldest railroads in the US, founded in 1832). It was fun and something different!

The ridiculous heat we’ve been getting lately means that the flies have returned in our apartment to slowly push me to the brink of insanity. Even the Raid bug barrier that I sprayed way too much of everywhere doesn’t seem to be keeping them out this summer. It is having some effect, because I’ve been finding dead flies all over the place so I guess they make their way inside and then are slowly poisoned or something? But then there’s ones that are definitely not dead and flying all over the place (almost always more than 1, like 3-4). I’m seriously going to end up having a panic attack if I have to deal with these freakin flies anymore. I need to just take a deep breath and let them be or something…which would be easier to do if not for the buzzing sound they make. Arrggh! I would seriously pay like $200 for some kind of magic device that would allow me to never see a fly in my apartment again.

Now onto a completely different topic. start-rant/ I was reading an article on Mashable today which linked to this opinion piece from the NYTimes called “The ‘Busy’ Trap“. Its a really great piece and I would definitely give it a read if you can. It basically sums up everything I feel and think about the way our society works and how frantic and stressed out we make ourselves over work (of course, worded in a much better way than I could ever manage). I mean…this quote is just perfection: “More and more people in this country no longer make or do anything tangible…I can’t help but wonder whether all this histrionic exhaustion isn’t a way of covering up the fact that most of what we do doesn’t matter.” This is how I’ve always felt, and this is what I just don’t get. People (not everyone, but a majority) work 8 hours a day. EIGHT hours. That’s a full 40 hours a week of your life that you’re giving to someone else to do something that, in most cases, you don’t really want to do. That is so much time and, in my opinion, enough time to accomplish whatever it is that needs to get done. Why do employers expect employees to spend even more time outside of this eight hours continuing to work? Why do they always seem to want employees “on call”? There are jobs that legitimately involve being “on call” where actual emergencies occur…anything in the medical field, for instance. But I’m sorry, there is no reason why one needs to be “on call” in professions that don’t require actual emergencies and where getting whatever it is done that very minute is actually a matter of life and death. Why do we collectively make these things seem so important? They’re not. And what’s sad is that most people don’t have much choice because everyone has become so lost in thinking of all these things as “important”.

Btw, this isn’t anything that’s related to me or my job (which I’m lucky does not include a situation like above)…just something that really gets to me whenever I come across it or think about it. The article talks about a lot of other good points, like how creativity comes when we don’t have so much stuff going on. I know that I definitely wrote more music and had lots more inspiration with that when I was unemployed and chilling out at the apartment all day long. I don’t think I’ve written a song in 2 years (probably more). Of course, I don’t want to ever be in that situation again (unemployment), but I do miss the creativity that came along with it. /end-rant

Tomorrow I have off work for Independence Day/July 4th. It kind of sucks because it lands on a Wednesday this year so we don’t really have the day off before or after it. Its just kind of right smack in the middle of the week. It also sucks because its supposed to thunderstorm, but maybe that’s not so bad. I can just chill inside and relax or something. The following weekend I’ll be going to Virginia to see a friend that I haven’t seen in a while so that should be really fun =)

Have a great holiday (if you celebrate it) and stay cool!


No Comments »