New Years Goals

So I usually don't make any significant "New Years resolutions" but this year I have quite a few! I think these are pretty reasonable.

1. Eat more real food - cooking at home, bring leftovers to work for lunch. I'll just need to plan ahead, and I've already stocked up on tupperware! This will save me money too! I baked some buttermilk bread yesterday, it was so easy and delicious, I'm going to make it as often as I can.



2. Pay off all my credit card debt. This is my main financial goal for 2011. I'm also saving money for Danijela's wedding in Croatia next summer, and a new TV/entertainment center.

3. Take 7 classes for my MBA program. I'll only have six left for 2012 to graduate! This will also take a significant chunk of money ($360 for each class plus books). Get awesome grades so I can get an awesome promotion/new job in the future.

4. Keep apartment clean & finish decorating! I'm almost done, just need a few more things!! :-)

5. Blog more often!

Speaking of blogging... Here's the basic recipe for that yummy buttermilk bread:









I used rosemary instead of thyme because I didn't have any.. I also used some yummy Penzey's spices I got for Christmas (ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon).

I'm such an old lady.

I made some tasty risotto (used up the last of my arborio rice- need more!) with broccoli, bacon and cherry tomatoes. This recipe came from Bethany, and I added a couple things to the roasted broccoli (of course, two of my favorite things in the world of foodness would be bacon and tomatoes).
For the risotto I didn't have any chicken broth so it wasn't as good as it has been the other times I've made it. The best is with white wine and beef or chicken broth, and add in olive oil and butter with Parmesan cheese.

Yesterday I (somehow!) managed to break my back. Like, couldn't even get out of bed! I didn't go to work for, I think, the first time this year. I must have pulled a muscle, because it was impossible to lift anything, including myself, without being in a crazy amount of pain. Anyhow, I winced my way to the doctor, and got some meds and a warm thing for my back. Today I felt better although it still hurts pretty bad when I get up or turn around. I'll be taking it reeeeally easy the next few days...

- B

the art of eating in

I'm in Des Moines this weekend again. Sitting in my parents' kitchen, writing this post on my new iPhone. :)
The reason for this visit was to take the GMAT test this morning, which I fully expected to completely bomb/fail and spend the rest of my weekend mourning and wallowing in sorrow. Instead, to my very happy surprise, I scored much, much higher than expected with a 710! I aced the verbal section with a score at the 98th percentile. I think I'm still in general disbelief about this. Not trying to brag, but for a lady with seemingly few successes in life lately... I feel I've earned the right to tell the world about my awesomeness on this one day!

In regards to the post title, I want to mention a new book I started reading this week, "The Art of Eating In", by Cathy Erway. I've really been enjoying the stories about cooking adventures, and it reminds me of a few experiences I've had in the kitchen. It also has some really great recipe ideas that I want to try. And a desire to visit NYC (I still haven't been!!)

Today I met Bethany for delicious coffee @ Mars Cafe, and we watched a movie at her house (I must mention I partook in some tasty chili and cornbread, thanks to her mama - yum yum!)

Now for a night of pleasantries and celebration!


-B

I heart productive days!

Today I accomplished a lot, which is always a good feeling. Plus, the weather was amazing once again, and that always boosts my mood quite a bit. Compare this to yesterday (all I did was watch old SNL episodes and read political blogs and news which just made me depressed).

Today I did all these things!
- painted my nails! (very dark red)
- produced 10 pages of marketing brilliance for my final paper! While sitting at Panera by the window, at least I got to enjoy some sun!
- exercised! (for once in my life!) I've been terrible at this lately. Yeah, I always try to take the stairs instead of the elevator and watch what I eat (who am I kidding? I haven't been doing a great job at that lately either) but I SUCK at exercising. I dread it. It sounds horrible when I think about it. But today I did it - I ran/walked for half an hour (not much) but at least I got my arse down to the treadmill. And it felt great!!
- watched Labyrinth with Cody! I had never seen this movie, but Cody owns it so we watched it this evening. It was very.... trippy? It involves Jim Hensons Muppets and David Bowie and a very young Jennifer Connelly. Weirdly funny and highly amusing! Ha, David Bowie is such a creep!

- slept for 13 hours! (I can't remember the last time I did this and felt so amazing afterward)

- Downloaded a bunch of podcasts in preparation for my new ipod purchase which will be delivered soon!
I got the new iPod nano (16 gig - and pink!)

my current podcast list:
- NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts
- NPR's Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me (love this!)
- Learn Spanish Survival Guide (new)
- Learn French by Podcast (need to brush up so I don't waste 5 years of French classes!)
- Rachel Maddow
- Indie Feed music
- American Public Media Dinner Party Download
- TED Talks
- Bill Maher

- talked to my momma! I will be going to my Grandma's for Thanksgiving which will be amazing! I love her mashed potatoes. Yum.

I think the extra hour made my day. I woke up at 1:30 but it was only 12:30. Then I drank WAY too much coffee at Panera, so I'll be reading Harry Potter tonight until I finally get to sleep....

good night <3 me

Yummy Dumpers

I made some delicious food! :D

Lemon Pepper Chicken with Mashed Potatoes
(marinated chicken breasts in lemon pepper seasoning)

Mashed Tatties (as my Grandma would say) - with cream cheese and half & half! Yum!

(lotsa butter and baked in the oven!)

Rotini with Baked Salmon, Asparagus and Shrimp (I made this today - it's very tasty!)
seasoned with dill. mmmmmmm.

virtual shopping (minus spending $$)

Instead of spending all my money, I'm just thinking about it instead. 

This is my wish list for fall!

H&M - Denim skirt and cozy sweater!

New tights from Sockdreams.com !

Bamboo Diamond Tights 

Thick Crochet Trouser Socks 

Coco Turncuff Knee Highs (cozy!)

Lovely skirt from Anthropologie (like I could afford this... but I <3 their clothes)

Another cute one! Mmmm corduroy... yum.

Also: mitten/gloves! I misplaced (carelessly lost, more like it) mine from last year. And these are ORANGE. :-) I seem to have an orange theme going on...

Wooly Cardigan

Leggings!

I love Victoria's Secret - their clothes are always soft and comfortable. I just wish they sold more in the stores instead of just online.

Ignoring the fact that I would look NOTHING like this, I want this sweater. (It's on sale!)

Time for bed. Feel free to purchase any or all of these items as a Halloween gift. 

<3

B

weekends back home are the best.

I love arriving at my parent's house. It's usually late at night, after having made the drive after work. I never know who will be there, or what festivities will be going on. There's usually someone fighting about who left the empty cereal box in the cabinet. Someone's yelling at the computer (dial-up internet). Kitties are passed out or fighting on the kitchen floor. There's bicycles and chalk marks on the sidewalks. Half-completed projects are spread across the dining room table. But somebody there is always happy to see me. I can't imagine being in a family where you don't always feel welcome.

I felt like I was getting sick last week so I thought a good dose of the fam would likely make me feel better, and I think I was right.

Bethany and I went to JT's birthday party on Friday night. We drank out of a community boot at Hessen Haus. We ate pizza egg rolls at Fong's and drank out of shrunken heads. We are lame old ladies so we called it a night at about midnight. :)

Saturday, I slept and slept.. and slept some more. It was wooonnderrrfuuuuul. :-)

Then Lizzy and I went thrift store shopping, and I found the perfect dress for my Joan (of Mad Men) costume, at Atomic Garage in Valley Junction. Check her out, on the far right.

I think I can pull this off. She's a curvy redhead, as am I. I just need some pumps and a perfect hairdo now. And perhaps a brooch. I'll post a picture of my dress soon.

Saturday night I saw Aaron's new house - I'm jealous! It's cute, and I love the neighborhood. It's near the cemetery off of MLK in Des Moines. We watched SNL and hung out with his friend who was... a character.

On Sunday, I woke up early and went shopping (again!) with Lizzy. This time we went to Jordan Creek. I got a new purse, and a couple of tops for work. I always feel like I need more clothes. Is this some kind of compulsion? I was watching Hoarders tonight, and I hope I don't ever get anywhere near the amount of crazy these people have!

Tomorrow I am going on a trip for work to Green Bay. I am going to miss classes but it will be kind of nice to stay in a hotel. Free place to stay with people who pick up after me, free food, no commute in the morning - I can't argue with that.

Wish me luck! <3

half done with school!

I am officially half done with this semester. I'm doing pretty well, although the majority of the work is going to come in the last half of the semester. I am taking Marketing and Statistics, and I like both my teachers & I feel like I'm really learning something (which is a good thing). The problem is, it does take up quite a bit of my time, and I feel stressed out a lot.

I suppose I need to get in a habit of working out several times a week again. That would always make me feel better once I did it, but trying to summon the energy to make it happen is VERY HARD. Which is more fun: eating cookies or working out? I know my answer. But seriously, I am going to try to do better from now on. I have classes on Mondays & Tuesdays but I can work out on Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. I think that is reasonable.

I am finally doing something about my hand numbness problem that I've been dealing with for about 2 years now. I started noticing it when one of my fingers became numb. I mentioned it to a doctor about 1 1/2 years ago and she said it might be carpal tunnel. I have since noticed tingling and numbness in both my hands, spreading to other fingers. In the past couple of months my wrists and hands have starting getting sore and it's getting very painful. I know these are all symptoms of carpal tunnel but the only known way to cure it is through surgery. I don't want to have surgery - that seems drastic - but it's getting to the point where I can't type without being in pain, I am having trouble sleeping, and I'm constantly uncomfortable. Anyway, this doctor is supposed to be good - he is an orthopedic surgeon so I'll just see what he says. I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but I am worried about this.

Goals for next month:

- Work out 3 times a week
- Eat healthy with a goal of losing 5 pounds by Oct. 31
- Study for GMAT, schedule test date
- Finish school projects and reading marketing books
- Plan Halloween party
- Finish work project (supposed to happen this weekend - so help me God)


I don't write very often in this blog but it does help me to get some of my thoughts out so I can go to sleep. :-)

rough day

I'll try not to go into any deep explanation, but to sum this all up: work sucked on Friday. We were trying to get this project done that I've been working on FOREVER (like, a year). Something unexpected happened that I totally couldn't expect, and it caused a LOT of problems. I ended up on my computer all of Friday night, and on the phone at midnight with managers explaining what happened and how to fix it. This is about how I feel right now:

It was bad. Crisis is averted for now, but I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that this is all going to blow up in my face on Monday. So I spent today watching movies and reading and partook in some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. And it did make me feel better.

I didn't do anything fun this weekend. Stayed home Friday and Saturday night, mostly mentally kicking myself for not anticipating this crisis. Hindsight is 20/20, right? I also watched a bunch of history channel shows on 9/11 which was extremely depressing and horrifying.

This night reminded me of the first scene in Bridget Jones Diary where she's hanging out in her apartment checking her messages (she has none) and starts singing that Celine Dion song "All By Myself". It's pretty hilarious if you want to watch it. Come to think of it, maybe I'm a lot like Bridget, with my awkwardness and work blunders and such. Although I have to say I think I am a better cook.

Yeah, looks about right.

On a brighter note, I did watch the Iowa - Iowa State game today, and it actually pained me to watch those poor State fans. We woon! I am not a "true" fan because I was happen when Iowa State finally got a touchdown. I just felt sorry for them!

I bought tickets for the Ball State game in a couple of weeks - Shellby, Bethany & her boy will be coming with me! I'm excited. I am ashamed to say I've never been to an Iowa game. I've been tailgating a couple times back in my undergrad days, but I never went to a game! I figure now that I'm going to Iowa again for grad school, it's about time.

This is a great photo from today.

Tomorrow's plan: wake up & work out, shower and do homework for stats, read my marketing book, hang stuff on my walls and watch the TRUE BLOOD SEASON FINALE! I am very sad that this will be the last episode, but if anything is going to brighten my mood, it will be a little vampire action in my life.

Good night moon!

labor day weekend

It's Labor Day weekend and Bethany came to visit! We have had quite the weekend.
Friday night, I went out to dinner with Jason & his wife Katie. Then Cody and I went out to Grumpy's Saloon and a couple other bars in the East Village area. I also spend lots of $$$ by purchasing things I didn't necessarily need at the mall. Meh, I deserve it!
Saturday, Bethany arrived and we went to eat at Azteca (I had delicious enchiladas, but my meal mostly consisted of chips & salsa and LOTS of margaritas). We drank wine and hung out on my roof.
Today, we took a road trip to Muscatine, my place of business and "other home" on weekdays from 8 to 5 pm. We ate lunch at the Button Factory and went on a horse-drawn carriage ride! It was quite lovely. The horses were named Blaze and Duke. I appreciated their assistance, but I don't think they realized it. It must be hard work lugging people like me around all day.
After the carriage ride, we went to Weed Park and camped out on a blanket underneath a tree by the pond. I fell asleep and took pictures. Muscatine isn't as dull a place as I make it sound; it's actually a cute little town even if there's nothing open on Sundays. There was a giant inflatable castle fun-looking thing. I totally would have been all over that, if I wasn't so..... old. ?
Tonight we're going to an Office Space themed party. We're working on our pieces of flair right now. Off to take a bat to the printer!
"PC load letter - wtf does that mean?!"

lovely weekend + ginger caramel shrimp

What a wonderful weekend! I went to Davenport for a surprise birthday party which was a lot of fun. I love piano bars. Got back really late last night, and today has been spent napping, cooking, and watching episodes of Roswell. I love days like this.
PS - I've decided on going to Piano Lounge for my birthday festivities next weekend. I'm excited to see everyone!

PPS - I hadn't eaten meat in two months until last night, when I apparently decided to go all out and eat a red meat hamburger. And later on, I admit to partaking in hormel chili cheese dip. Haha - so much for the no-meat attitude I'd taken on.

This evening I made the most delicious shrimp recipe. Yummy!!

I marinated the shrimp in a bowl of water filled with chili powder, sugar, and salt. Then sauteed with garlic, sugar, and ginger for a few minutes. It was really easy to make! Eat it with some jasmine rice and you might die of happiness.

yummy deviled egg salad + tuna salad with capers and black olives

The other day I made these delicious deviled eggs, sauteed them in olive oil and used the leftover stuffing mixed with olive oil + white wine vinegar to make the salad dressing.

Today I made an easy tuna salad with black olives, dill, green capers, red onion, and olive oil. And, of course, tuna. I like the albacore tuna. YUM. I love food.

Next up... I am making the most DELICIOUS fudge cupcakes EVER. Like I told my sister today, I found the recipe for my brownie boyfriend and I'm not givin him up to anyone!

new kitchen + spanish paprika potato oven omelet

My landlord decided to totally rip apart my kitchen and replace it with an amazing one instead! Now I have a dishwasher <3 and new cabinets, new oven, new sink! This pretty much made my week. Or month. :)

So I decided to celebrate by cooking as much as possible in the time I have left here. I made zucchini chocolate chip muffins for work on Friday (they did not get eaten up as quickly as the chocolate brownies.. but they were healthier!) ;-)

And this (late) morning I made a delicious oven omelet recipe from my latest cookbook purchase, The Splendid Table's How To Eat Supper.

In a hot pan with olive oil, throw in a thinly sliced red potato & a chopped onion. Sprinkle on a tablespoon of paprika and let it cook for about 10 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, whisk together:
5 eggs,
2 cups grated cheese (I used asiago and monterey jack),
3/4 cup milk.

Now in the bottom of an oven-proof dish, layer the egg mixture over the potato mixture & sprinkle some more cheese on top.

Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven, just to uncover & sprinkle on some more paprika on top.
Bake for 10 to 15 more minutes.

This was so easy... and very tasty!

Julie & Julia

I just watched the film "Julie and Julia", based on the real-life blog by Julie Powell herself. It chronicles Julie's year in cooking all 536 recipes from Julia Child's book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". The film shares Julie's story along with Julia's at the same time.

I loved it! I thought it was sweet and hilarious. I found Julia's story to be much more intriguing than Julie's, but Julie's was a very real to life story. Julie complains. She cooks. She spills. She is normal. She succeeds. And it's not the kind of cheesy ending I thought it could turn out to be. Meryl Streep does an AMAZING job playing Julia Child.

This is the real Julia Child, in cooking school at Le Courdon Bleu in Paris.

And Meryl Streep as Julia Child, below.

I never knew too much about Julia Child, but now I am interested in trying out some of her recipes. She seems like a fun lady. Take a look at this awesome photo postcaed Julia and her husband Paul sent out to their friends. I love it!

In conclusion, I am going to try out a couple of Julia's recipes...

Quiche Lorraine
Potato and Leek soup
Reine de Saba - Chocolate Almond Cake
Chocolate Mousse

I'll let you know how it goes! That's all for now.

Recipes I need to try!

Main Courses!

Pan fried chick pea salad

Green Chili polenta cakes with red chili cream

Potato Parmesan Soup with Parsley-Fennel Pesto


Appetizers!

Sweet potato fries!

Romaine pesto and egg-stuffed tomatoes

Yummy!


Yum - sour cream chocolate chip coffeecake

Ricotta nut muffins

Breakfast!

Eggs in tomato sauce

Bacon and egg breakfast pizza

Sausage and Egg Casserole with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Peace out, home fries. :P

Sleep.

It is necessary to keep my sanity, and I want it so badly in the morning. But why not when I need to go to BED?!

Finally

Sent in my grad school apps last weekend. Sending in my last package of recommendation letters tomorrow. Now it is just a waiting game, and I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. I have been obsessed with all the science and fascinating videos that were recently posted on TED.com, one of my favorite web sites ever. I really enjoyed:

Our Place in the Cosmos, David Deutsch (guy who wrote The Fabric of Reality, and started talking about the "theory of everything")


Can science answer moral questions?, Sam Harris


Gaming can make a better world, Jane McGonigal (reminds me of the prof from Harry Potter)


Could a Saturn moon harbor life?, Carolyn Porco (one of my old favs)


Nite nite.

<3 me

ICTS scores

I got my scores back from ICTS (Illinois Test of Basic Skills) which is a required test for admission to any teaching certification program in the state of Illinois. I passed! I actually got a perfect score on the math questions! That was surprising! I thought that section was easy, but I figured I made a couple of mistakes. That made me happy. My final score was 285 / 300. The minimum passing score on the exam is 240. I'm glad I don't have to take it again!
Along with this news came some disappointing news. I didn't get accepted to the teaching fellows program. I think it's probably a good thing - it will give me some more time to save and prepare before making a big change like that. I just paid off my car, and I've had to make a repair to my brakes, and it made me realize that without a job, I'd be homeless and without a car. Haha funny, but really, I would not be able to afford not being paid all summer long in my current financial situation.
On a (very) happy note, I got a raise at work! Another pleasant surprise!
Now, I am focusing my energy on applying for schools. I have my list, in order of how I will apply:

1. Loyola
2. Aurora
3. DePaul

CA schools:

1. Mt St Mary's (LA)
2. St Mary's (Morega CA)
3. Antioch U - LA

Wish me luck!! :D

Angel hair pasta with bacon, red pepper, and peas

So the other night I decided to whip up something and kind of made it up along the way, and it turned out great! This is the "recipe".

- Boil angel hair pasta in salted water
- In a separate pan, melt some butter and throw in a little bit of olive oil also.
- Chop up some turkey bacon into little pieces and cook up in the butter & olive oil.
- Add some minced garlic (don't let it burn!)
- Add some chopped up red pepper
- Add spices. I put in paprika, salt, pepper, parsley and basil.
- Add a little bit of water to the pan & some frozen peas. Cover and cook for a few minutes, until the peas are done.
- When the pasta is done, throw it in the pan and stir up!

This is delicious.

Top Songs

I had a lovely weekend - met some new people and enjoyed the wonderful weather. I cleaned up my apartment a bit, did all my laundry and washed dishes, so that felt good! I think this happy spring weather is encouraging productive behaviors. I also worked out hardcore on Saturday, and I managed to squeeze in another workout today.
Currently, I am downloading some new music and putting together a list of my all time favorite songs. I am listening to Pedro the Lion and Sunny Day Real Estate. Oh, and I gave myself bangs yesterday - it looks pretty good especially considering I did it myself!

So here we have my favorite songs:

Maps, by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Album = Fever to Tell.
This song is very catchy, and there isn't a whole lot going on lyrics-wise, but I love it.

The Beatles
Black Bird, Cry Baby Cry, Across the Universe, All You Need is Love, Dear Prudence, Yellow Submarine, A Day in the Life, Something. I particularly enjoy the White Album.

Sea of Teeth, by Sparklehorse. Album = It's a Wonderful Life.
This is a very calm, lovely song. The video is wonderful. See it here.
"Can you feel the rings of Saturn on your finger? Can you taste the crush of a sunset's dying blush? Stars will always hand in summer's bleeding veils. Seas forever boil; trees will turn to soil."

VCR, by the XX. Album = Self-titled.
"When I find myself by the sea, in another's company by the sea.. When I go out the pier, gonna die and have no fear because you, you just know, you just do."

Videotape, by Radiohead. Album = In Rainbows.
"When I'm at the pearly gates, this'll be on the videotape. This is my way of saying goodbye because I can't do it fact to face. So I'm talking to you before. No matter what happens now, shouldn't be afraid because I know today has been the most perfect day I have ever seen."

On that note, I also love a couple others by Radiohead: Fake Plastic Trees and Nice Dream, off The Bends album. And, Talk Show Host (this was on the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack). Another favorite is True Love Waits.

Fix You Up, by Tegan and Sara. Album = So Jealous (one of my favorite albums EVER).
"What do you need to do to get yourself in a better mood? Well there's not a lot for you to give if you're giving in. And there's not a lot for you to feel if you're not feeling it. You bring it up and bring it in and we'll get you fixed up in no time. What I wanted most was to get myself all figured out. And what I figured out was I needed more time to figure you out. This love is all I have to give."

Sleepyhead, by Passion Pit. Album = Chunk of Change.
This is a fun song! This is definitely a dancing song. This song reminds me of when I started DJ-ing at KRUI with Sardine. We discovered this album and I fell in love with it.

Rebellion (Lies) by the Arcade Fire. Album = Funeral.
I also love In the Backseat, and Une Annee sans Lumiere, off that same album. Also, Neon Bible (album = Neon Bible). God I love the Arcade Fire. Seeing them live was amazing.

Seven Swans, by Sufjan Stevens. Album = Seven Swans.
One of the most beautiful songs I have had the pleasure of listening to. This song reminds me of my trip to Europe, hanging out in sleeper cars on the train. I listened to this song every night to help me fall asleep.

Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl, by Broken Social Scene. Album = You Forgot It In People.
I can't explain why I like this song so much. It's very repetitive and I love the singer's voice. This band does some pretty interesting stuff.

Sea of Love, cover by Cat Power. Originally by Phil Phillips and The Twilights, in the 50s. One of those pretty love songs. This song was on the Juno soundtrack.
"Do you remember when we met
That's the day I knew you were my pet
I want to tell you how much I love you
Come with me, my love
To the sea, the sea of love"

Rocket Man, by Elton John.
Who doesn't <3 this song?? 'Nuff said. PS, here's one of my favorite videos of his performance. "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids." Wise words, my friend.

Lola, by the Kinks.
A wonderful old song. "You drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola. C-O-L-A cola"

The Only Living Boy in New York, by Simon and Garfunkel. I first heard this song on the Garden State soundtrack. I fell in love.

Black Cab, by Jens Lekman.
"I wanna sleep in my bed. I wanna clean up my head. I killed the party again. I ruined it for my friends. Oh you're so silent, Jens. Maybe I am. I feel like going home but at the same time I don't. Black cab.. take me home or take me anywhere." Doesn't sound like the happiest of songs, eh? But I get the feeling.

Xanax, by Maria Taylor. Album = 11:11.
"Afraid of an airplane
Of a car swerving in the lane
Of a dark cloud too low
Or being swept away by the undertow
Of a building tumbling down
Of the train when it's underground
Of the icy mountain roads
We have to take to get to the show

There's just a time when we must all let go the breath that we hold
There's just a time when we must all let go the breath that we hold
You know, the unknown we have to let go

Afraid when the phone rings
Another breath of life has ceased
It seems it's just lost so easily

Afraid my heart, it beats too slow
Or that I died and just didn't know
Or of a fate I will have to choose
And I'm afraid of how much I love you

There's just a time when we must all let go the breath that we hold
There's just a time when we must all let go the breath that we hold
You know, the unknown we have to let go

It's just now that I've found a place where I can breathe
It's just now that I've found a place where I can sleep
It's just now that I've found a place where I can breathe
It's just now that I've found a place where I can sleep
It's just now that I've found a place where I can breathe
It's just now that I've found a place where I can sleep
It's just now that I've found a place where I can breathe
It's just now that I've found a place where I can sleep"


Lastly, this new song I just heard today by Pedro the Lion is called Criticism as Inspiration.


That's all for now.

Enchilada night

Tonight I made vegetarian enchiladas using Boca Meatless Ground Crumbles. It was quite tasty, so I'll include my recipe here. I kind of made it up as I went along, but it turned out great so I wanted to keep it!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet, heat on medium-high for 10 minutes:

- A little bit of butter
- Boca ground crumbles
- Red pepper, diced
- Onion, diced
- Green chilies (canned)
- 1 tsp adobo sauce (hot)
- Coriander
- Cumin
- Paprika
- Salt and pepper



Then, add:

- about a third of the enchilada sauce (canned, the red kind)
- mexican cheese

Stir, and heat for another couple of minutes.



Now, spoon in the mix onto corn tortillas and pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top. Sprinkle on some more cheese if you want. Heat in the oven for 15 minutes, and you're done!



Check out how tasty these look (and don't mind my messy kitchen)! I eat them with sour cream - delicious! They are pretty spicy too.

TED Talks

One of my favorite web sites is: www.ted.com. This site features amazing talks given by all kinds of fascinating people.

Recently, I saw this talk by Temple Grandin, who was diagnosed with autism as a child. She talks about helping autistic children find their niche, and how teachers can help them succeed. It's very interesting to hear from someone who experiences autism and has found a way to use it to her advantage. I like how she doesn't think of it as a bad thing - it's not something to be ashamed of, or is holding her back. She has really embraced the way she thinks.

Check out her TED talk here.

<3 Bridget

Teaching Fellows

Today I had my interview for Chicago Teaching Fellows. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but I powered through. Whenever I get nervous about something like this, I can't taste the food I eat, and my stomach is turning the whole day. Last night I rehearsed my lesson several times, and in the shower this morning. The lesson itself went well - I did a 5 minute lesson on probability. I'm not sure how the actual interview went, because the girl just kept writing and not following up on anything I said. She just went through their list of questions. I'm not getting my hopes up, but we'll see what happens. This would be a great way to get into teaching, but it is a very difficult program to get into. They are pretty selective about who they pick, and since I didn't actually major in math or social work or anything related to the subjects they need... I am feeling out of luck.
I will find out by mid-March whether I am accepted to the program. That is also when I will find out my basic skills test scores.

On a lighter note, tonight is ladies night. I'd better get moving. :-)