Monday, January 31, 2011

Belated Birthday Post

It was my birthday this weekend! Actually it was yesterday, we celebrated on Saturday with all our friends. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my friends? Cause I do, I really, really do. 

The plan was to have everyone meet at our house and then we walked over to the nearest bar and kind of took it over, cause that's what we do. Apparently. 

Here are a couple of pictures from the night of shenanigans:


The biggest surprise of the night was this cake! My mom coordinated with C to get me and Josh a Care Bear birthday cake. It's delicious.

The mister and the girls, Amy, C and, me.


This picture cracks me up every time! You know the Dos Equis commercials with The Most Interesting Man in the World? C is doing her impression, and obviously Steph isn't buying it. 


 Me and J, this girl is amazing.

 The birthday kids!

So now I'm 28. And how do I feel about that?



Pretty damn good. 
This year is going to be a good one.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Black Bean Soup

This is what the mister and I had for dinner tonight:

 And yes, it was as delicious as it looks.
I found this soup the other day at "From Scratch" an awesome blog by a girl named Emma. You should check it out! I changed mine a little, hers is vegan mine is not. Either way would be good, I just happened to have some extra chicken so I got a little crazy and threw it in.

This soup is so simple and quick! It took about 15 minutes to make, I served it with a big hunk of crusty bread and avocado and called it good. 
And so I said, and so it was. 

Here's the recipe:

Black Bean Soup
serves 2-3
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2  red onion
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup shredded chicken, cooked
2 cups chicken stock
1 Tbls olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In pot heat oil and saute onion until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add garlic, salt and pepper and, chili powder. Cook another minute or so. Turn the heat down and add stock and black beans. Let flavors get happy for 5-8 minutes. 
At this point you could either serve it as is, or you could do what I did and run my potato masher across the beans to loosen them up a bit. Don't squish them to hard, you don't want to make a dip. 
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and avocado slices. 

Rejoice in the simple things. 
Goodnight peeps!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

It's eleven pm and I'm feeling crafty...

I finally have all of my homework done today. Well not really but all the stuff that is absolutely positively due tomorrow is done, and I've studied for my quiz too! I guess I should say that all my Biology is done today. There was a lot to do. 
I had to meet with part of my group to water and measure our research project, which is just a bunch of bean plants. We're the control group so it's not a lot of fun. Next time I'll take pictures I can bring home. Then I had a lab portfolio (with extra credit) to finish, some questions about the evolution of plants that are due tomorrow and a quiz over said article and homeostasis to study for. Yeah. That's right. I said homeostasis. You know what that means? That I know big science-y words and their meanings. 


I also registered for next term today! It's so exciting. If my calculations are correct, since I still haven't heard from the school, I will be graduating at the end of spring term. Eeeeeekkkk! I'm almost half way through! Now I really need to get on my application to the big kids school. I need to be one next year. 


So now that all that's done it's 11:00 p.m. and I want to do something crafty or bake something. Of course this sudden urge is probably a fueled by the ice cream I just had. Either way it's really annoying. I think I better just go to bed. 


Have a good night peeps!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Life lesson for the day...

Today I brushed off my last class and came home early. Don't judge, I had already gotten clearance from my teacher to do this...I just hope she remembers. 
The reason that I skipped class was so that I could get some stuff done today and then have tomorrow to work on school stuff. It seems like everything is due this week. In Biology I have a lab portfolio and a paper due Wednesday along with a quiz. In Research Writing I have 2 assignments due today, 2 due Wednesday including a paper. Oh and my internship...well that's not going so great. Why is it so hard to find a place that will let you work for free?


But I digress...what was I going to do today?


*Grocery shop
*Finish the laundry
*Go to the library
*Hit up the gym
*Go to the bank
*Pay some bills


What have I done so far?
Realized that I should have paid better attention to the classes I signed up for this year and, tried to figure out what classes I need to take so I can graduate to the big kids school all by myself because I am ALWAYS waiting on the school. You see when you apply for graduation they send you a letter telling you exactly what you need to complete your degree...I did this almost two months ago and tomorrow is advance registration for spring term.

Then I got frustrated.

Now I want to take a nap.
Wake me in an hour...

Thursday, January 20, 2011

I have about 5 minutes to spare...

So let's make this quick! Yesterday was my friend Amy's birthday so we went to Rogue Brewery for Bingo night. Of course we were the rowdy table and I thought that our poor waiters head was going to explode before we even ordered dinner. I think I took pictures but I have had no time to look at them. That will have to wait until later. 

I've been doing good at working out this week. Here's what I've done so far:

Monday: 45 minutes of intervals on the elliptical.
Tuesday: Boot Camp class. C and I did this and I thought I was going to DIE! I can't wait until next week's class. New goal: Survive Boot Camp without my face looking like a tomato.
Wednesday: 45 minutes doing intervals on the elliptical.
Today: Pilates and Power Tools (it's actually Props but C and I say Power Tools because it makes us sound bad-ass). 


I feel sore and my legs are kind of killing me but it feels good to be getting back in shape. 


Today is a super busy day:
* I have a meeting at 1:00 with my internship adviser where I'm sure I will get a stern talking to about my lack of leads for an internship. 
* Must pick up the veggies by 4:00
* Have to grocery shop or we will be eating the dog for dinner.
* Biology lab at 2:00
* Pilates at 4:30
* Pick up library books 


It doesn't seem like a lot but it's a lot of running around town. Everything but the veggies is on the south side of town. Time to figure out some logistics. 


Eeek! I have 20 minutes before I have to leave and I haven't even gotten dressed yet. Let alone gotten out of bed, I've already submitted two homework assignments and fixed my resume for like the 28,356 time so I've been productive! 

Have a great day peeps!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Let's Get Physical and Refocus...

My first lesson in my Blog Love e-course is finding a theme for my blog and re-focusing your blog into what you want it to be. We also had to make a tag-line that would define your blog. 
Wanna hear mine?

Ready...

Having fun with healthy and homemade...

Yes?
No?
What do you think?

Living a healthy lifestyle has really become a passion of mine. I've been inspired by some of my favorite blogs and want to share what I'm doing to get back into shape. I'm no expert and I will never claim to be. I think it's important to share my journey of getting my body back and I'm hoping that it will keep me motivated. 
I've already taken my measurements and tomorrow I'll weigh myself and start sharing with all of you. Maybe there will be pictures. Maybe...


Picture from Self.com         
I think I need to get some leg warmers and headbands...

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Sunday Dreaming...

Today I'm dreaming of blue bathrooms...

Blue Bathroom

Bathroom pictures from Country Living.

Now I must tackle the homework monster. 

Enjoy your Sunday peeps! 

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Date Night!

In an attempt to make good on my 29 Before 29 we had Date Night tonight. Nothing fancy just Sixth Street Grill for some burgers. It was delicious! 
Calamari and Black Butte Burger with Sweet Potato Fries


 The misters new watch, his early birthday present

And after dinner we walked around downtown a bit...
Oh how I love Picnik. 
Have a happy evening peeps!

29 before 29 or My New Year's Resolutions...

I'm not big on resolutions. I tend to make some pretty good ones each year, follow them for a couple of weeks and then somehow forget about them before February even comes around. 
This year instead of making resolutions I wanted to do a list of 29 things to accomplish before I turn 29. Since my birthday is at the end of this month (fifteen days!) I figured they could double as my resolutions. 
Here they are:


29 Before 29:  
1. Read 12 for pleasure books 
2. Read 6 books that will teach me something 
3. Get accepted to UO 
4. Win a scholarship to UO 
5. Get a job in my future field (whatever that is) 
6. Become a better far-away friend/relative 
7. Buy, wear and be comfortable in a bikini this summer 
8. Take a trip with the mister 
9. Get the car into the garage
10. Organize all my craft stuff 
11. Make a compost pile 
12. Plant a garden 
13. Spend more time with my girl friends 
14. Bring back date night 
15. Do something creative 30 minutes a day 
16. Make 12 new craft projects 
17. Take more pictures 
18. Have a girls weekend out of town
19. Have dinner with my sister 
20. Do a body-cleanse 
21. Put together my family recipe book 
22. Start a family picture wall for our little family 
23. Graduate from Lane with a 3.5 GPA or better 
24. Go to a play 
25. Acquire grown up living room furniture 
26. Purge the house
27. Organize what's left
28. Become a volunteer
29. Be a better blogger

I plan on keeping these and have already been working on most of them.

I already read one for pleasure book:
Image Credit



 I'm not a big fan of female comedians but I love Chelsea Handler! This book was just as good as the other two and I still don't have a favorite. 

Mark that off the list:
For Pleasure Books: 1/12

Have a great weekend peeps!


Friday, January 14, 2011

Let's play catch...up.

Hey peeps! I know it's been a long time since I've posted and I'm sorry. One of my resolutions this year is to be a better blogger. Thanks to C I got a little help, she got me the Blog Love e-course from Elsie at A Beautiful Mess for my b-day/Christmas gift. Hooray! I'm so excited to get started. 

So let's do a quick recap of all that has happened since my last substantial post which I think was in November (eeeek!):

November: 
 Mom came for Thanksgiving. We had 8 people here and it was a full house. Dinner was amazing and it was so nice to have my friends and family here at the house. 





December:
Most. Stressful. Month. EVER! We started with finals week, and after surviving that (and getting a B- in Biology! WHOOOO!) we went right into Christmas Madness! I say we because the mister is now a full time student with me, no more work for us. I'm still trying to not freak out about this recent turn of events. It's a daily process. 
After hosting Thanksgiving dinner I was primed for a big Christmas dinner as well. Good thing because the whole family came. Misters parents and his twin brother came for dinner along with some family friends. It was beautiful and the food was freakin' amazing!




We had a great time with the family. Lots of new memories! And we took care of our friends dog while she was in Florida. We almost kept him, almost. 





January:
First off I can't believe it's already the middle of the month! We've started school and I am frantically searching for an internship. I have to get 144 hours done before the end of term or I get an incomplete for my class. Ugh. I also have to apply for the big kids school this month, and don't get me started on scholarships!
I've been adjusting to the mister being home more. It's been really fun to go to school together, even if he is done and home before I get out of my first class. And I'm really proud of how good he's doing. 
We have birthdays coming up at the end of the month! His is the 28th and mine is the 30th. I have no clue how we'll celebrate. I don't want the hassle of a party but C said she would host one if we that's what we want to do. So much to think about. 


So now you're caught up. 


Now I need to get out of this sitting position, I think it's time to bake.




Thursday, January 13, 2011

Hire me for free work!

Hi all! I'm sorry I've been so absent lately. My life at the moment is a little crazy. 

I think it'll be slowing down soon and I'll be back I promise!


Follow my blog with bloglovinat the moment is

Saturday, January 1, 2011

You say goodbye 2010, and I say hello 2011

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Did you all party it up last night?

We didn't.

We went to dinner with the mister's family and then came home and were asleep before 11:00. 
   
Oh I know, we're real exciting folks.
  
I have two days before I go back to school, and my house is finally my own for the first time in what seems like weeks. 


Does anyone have any resolutions?


At this point mine is to stop watching "Locked Up Abroad" and get my chores done.