Convivial

Here's to hoping the interweb doesn't crash on me before I get this written. I have not posted in a while, I apologize for that. It is not from lack of ideas, I seem to have plenty of ideas, I just don't know how to finish them. I have a folder full of unfinished post on my desktop.
Today was convivial! I just googled synonyms for enjoyable and that word seemed most fitting. It started out as just an average Thursday. I got out of bed at 8:38 and made it to work by 8:52. I typed sign in sheets for the classrooms to get ready for the fall semester and then I went to my older kid classroom to help with naptime duties, all part of a normal days work. I even went to lunch at my usual 1:36 time. Enough about the mundane part of my day. When I got back to work just in time for snack time the kids came up to me and said guess what Miss Amanda we are gonna get ice cream. Oh my goodness, I was excited almost as much as the kids were. It wasn't the ice cream itself that I was excited about. It had more to do with the fact I was getting to go on another great adventure with my little friends. About thirty minutes later, little flutes in hand out marched 8 little three and four year olds along with myself and the two lead teachers. The ice cream shop was only about a ten minute walk for us but it was convivial! I am surely going to miss these impromptu field trips and outings my class takes. I am truly blessed to be able to work with such great children and two very willing and able teachers. It does sadden me a little bit because when I mention these spontaneous outings to other labor students they tell me that they wish their teachers would do things that my class does but they are unwilling to step up and do different things with the children. Nobodies perfect, I know that, I just wish that some people would just take the initiative to get up and do stuff at least for the children s sake.
Tomorrow is my last day with this particular group of children. Never again with these same exact children be in the same classroom together and that is a bit sad. I have been with some of those kids since before they were two years old and watching them grow up and move on is hard but also rewarding experience to watch. I wish there wasn't strict rules or I would take a group picture of my kids for yall to see them but unfortunately no can do. Well I am getting sad thinking about children transitioning and moving on so I better stop now.
Signing Off,
Captain Something Fun

I've accomplished almost every thing on my list of things to do while I'm at home, except the fact that I can always read more and spend more time with Jesus. I'm currently reading The Castle by Franz Kafka. It is true Kafka style. Even though it wasn't supposed to be published (he told his friend in his will to burn the manuscript), it's intriguing. It's about a surveyor who is summoned to a castle but once he gets there the count won't see him and the peasants think he doesn't belong. The entire book so far has been about his struggle to meet with the count, whose name is Klamm. This guy is a true clan because no one ever sees him, not even the castle officials. And did I mention the main character simply goes by K.? He never gets another name. I almost quit reading it because it is a slow read but now that I'm over halfway through I'm want to finish it.

In addition to cleaning and organizing, I have been cooking some as well. When I left call I copied down some recipes with the intention of making them while I'm here. The problem is that the recipes are intended for large groups so I have to cut them. Here's what I started with when I made bread:

Well no pictures because I'm having terrible trouble getting pictures to come off my phone onto anything else.

In summary, I've made bread from scratch, meatloaf (this is not a camp recipe but my own recipe) from deer meat, mashed potatoes (with sour cream), and extra good no bake cookies.

It turns out that I will be at Model next semester for at least part of the semester. My cooperating teacher is leaving October 14 but hopefully the teacher they hire to replace her will have enough experience that I can stay there and finish the semester with those students. It's going to be an interesting, challenging, and exciting semester.

I wonder if there is an app for blogging from my phone. It's strange to do this on the phone.

Granny Eyre

A Curly Journey

Yesterday was a scary day for me. Having curly hair, I always get nervous when I go to a new stylist because many of them are truly clueless about thebest way to cut and style curls.  That's the reason I had put off getting anything  more than a trim while I was at Berea. Last week when I got a pedicure (an anniversary gift from Lucas), the subject of my hair came up with the lady who did it. I told her the frustrations I had experienced in the past and she told me she'd give me a wash, cut and style if I'd let her. I have been needing a cut for awhile now and thought Why not. I'll never get a good stylist if I don't give anyone a chance.

So, at 4:45pm yesterday, I made my way to the hot seat and I was more prepared than ever. Prepare for a caveat. There were many, many years I truly despised my hair. I've cried over it multiple times because I could not prevent it from getting frizzy or get it to curl the right wait or stay straightened. I spent so much time wearing it in a bun or a ponytail because I was embarrassed and didn't know how to appropriately care for it. Over the past month or so, I have been doing research on the best ways to care for curly hair and the different types of curly hair out there. This is what I've learned about my doo!

1.) I have low porosity hair, meaning my hair takes longer to let moisture in and to release it. This hair type often doesn't allow conditioners in either and is why it can often look dry.

2.) All hair types, but particularly curly doos, should never be dried with a terry cloth towel because their rough on it. Instead, simply using a cotton tee shirt works much better.

3.) I should avoid combing my hair unless I'm in the shower and have conditioner in it if possible because of the breakage and prevention of natural clumping of the curls that occurs.

4.) I may want to wash my hair even less. Lots of people I've watched videos on or read about only wash their hair once or twice a week. Honestly, this is really difficult for me because my hair becomes more difficult to style and I don't like the texture as much after a few days.

5.) Co-washing is fairly common. Instead of using shampoo which is meant to strip your hair of all its natural oils and other grim, co-washing simply means using a lighter (usually much cheaper) conditioner to wash the grim out and following it with a higher end conditioner that will hopefully really work its way into the hair.

6.) LOTS of pharmacy/supermarket hair products are actually harsh on the hair. Do your research before you shop!

I learned a lot of this information from watching Waterlily716's YouTube channel. I also had several Pinterest photos from my Doos Board that I wanted to show her to kind of give her an idea of what I wanted.

I told her that I wanted to keep the length I had but I wanted more layers to give it volume. I also wanted the cut to frame my face (like what you see in the photos above) rather than be one solid length.

Here are the before and after results! However, I will say that the before pic is a little dramatization because it was second day hair that I didn't attempt to style at all. I wanted the stylist to see my hair as it it without much product in it.

Overall, I am satisfied with the results so far. She went through and individually curled each clump of hair using a defining creme so I haven't seen how it looks with my normal styling routine. I plan to take a few photos in the next couple of weeks and share the new cut in different styles!

Let me know what you think!

All the best,

The Doughnut Trail

I saw a post from Martha S.'s husband about a doughnut trail in Lexington, I watched the youtube video that had been in his post: LexTreks: Doughnut Trail. Even though this 'doughnut trail' seemed like a sort ridiculously unhealthy adventure, my love of doughnuts won and my beau and I took a trip on the trail on Saturday. We started a little later than we had hoped, but we ended up exploring all the shops we had wanted to and trying a little bit at each one. We did not go to all the shops the video mentioned, but I hope to still go to the one we missed sometime in the near future. I'll break it down to where we did go with pictures and recommendations for you:

Coffee Times Coffee House: This was our first stop because it was the closet location to us on Nicholasville Rd. This was not part of the doughnut trail but this coffee house was celebrating it's 31st anniversary with 31 cent coffee, 31% off purchases, and vendors in the parking lot selling interesting things. I got their Flavor of the Day: "Sunshine" in coffee form and it was yummy! Jason got a blended iced espresso beverage which was really smooth and not too sweet like some frappes can be. We browsed the vendors in the parking lot and some handmade earrings and necklaces caught my eye. I ended up buying some earrings which I thought were too cute to pass up. The creator also said she would make custom earrings if there was something you would like earrings of, so I thought I'd give her some publicity in my blog post.

I LOVE Smores

Donut Days Bakery: Next closest stop from the coffee shop. This shop was the first and my eyes were bigger than my stomach at this point. I got a twisted chocolate donut which was pretty good. Jason got a regular chocolate doughnut. We both enjoyed them, but enjoyed other shops more.

Some of what Donut Days had to offer

Magee's Bakery: Even though this was only the second stop I wasn't ready to eat another, but we agreed we would visit two more shops when we left Donut Days, and Magee's turned out to be next. By the time we got to Magee's it was between 11 and 11:30. This bakery sold many breakfast items but I think they had a fairly large lunch menu as well because the place was very busy. The inside of Magee's was much more interesting than the first shop we had gone to and it was much bigger. When we got to the register we ordered just one glazed doughnut to split. The cashier told Jason to put his wallet away and he proceeded to give us a bag of two glazed doughnuts and two chocolate chip cookies. Maybe it's because free food usually tastes better, but we both thought this doughnut was really good! We'll be going back here.

Yum!!

Spaulding's Bakery: I've always heard good things about Spaulding's donuts and I've eaten them in the past (and enjoyed them)..so I wanted to make this stop on the trail, for sure. I think the bakery closed at noon so we got there just before they were closing and their selection was slim. They had sticky buns, cookies and glazed doughnuts among a couple of other choices left. We got two glazed and a sticky bun. We gave the glazed away to Jason's grandparents and saved the sticky bun for Sunday. The sticky bun was good but I want to try some of Spaulding's other doughnuts! So, we'll be revisiting Spaulding's too!

Danishes at Spaulding's

Overall, an interesting and unhealthy experience, but one that left me craving more doughnuts!
The Farmer's Daughter

Week of Mostly Foodie Firsts

No, these aren't as serious as a first kiss, fight, or concert but they were plum exciting to me.

1.) I had my first piece of baklava cheesecake! It was scrumptious. If you've ever had baklava, you know that it has a somewhat nutty and crunchy flavor. The nuts, honey, sugar, and cinnamon combination formed the crust of the cheesecake. Cheesecake filling was in the middle and phyllo dough with cinnamon and honey formed the top layer of the cheesecake. Plus, the piece was ginormous!! This one came from Gondolier Pizza in Glasgow, Kentucky.

2.) I roasted a turkey! Momma had a turkey from this past Thanksgiving that was given to her as a gift. She was afraid to cook it for fear of ruining it so I took the reins. It's a length-y procedure (nearly 5 hours) but after tasting it, it all became worth it. It was moist and had a wonderful flavor. But, I prefer the birds (over other meat options) so I may be slightly bias. I kept going back to nibble! Here are the directions that I semi-followed: How to Cook a Turkey. Sadly, I left my parents early the next morning and didn't get to enjoy any of the leftovers. It was soo good, I'll definitely be roasting one for the hubs and I soon. I also didn't get a picture. Apologies. I'll get one of my next one, promise!

3.) Ate dinner at Rose Pepper's & enjoyed dessert at Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream.

At Rose Pepper's, I had a vegan burrito. Meat nor rice sounded very appealing to me. Plus, I wanted something light because I knew we were going for ice cream. Being the first intentionally vegan meal I've ever ordered, I was dubious about how flavorful and textured the meal would be. I was impressed! The burrito was filled with broccoli, cauliflower and several other vegetables.

The restaurant is mostly known for their drinks. Secondly, their decor. Apparently, they make spectacular margaritas. The lighting is made up of natural light from the windows, colored string lights, and small wall lighting. Thus, it has an exciting but intimate feel. If you're ever in East Nashville, I definitely recommend this spot.

Just across the street, at the corner of a small shopping center is where Jeni's is located. I chose to get a 2 scoop bowl with Sweet Cream Biscuits & Peach Jam and Brambleberry Crisp although I was very tempted by the oatmeal ice cream sandwich. It was phenomenal! Everything tasted so fresh and not too sweet, just right.

Jeni's has locations in several big cities across the nation but even more exciting they'll deliver it to your door! So, if you're ever craving some interesting flavors, I totally recommend trying some!

What have been some of your recent "foodie firsts"? I'm always anxious for inspiration!

Until next time,

A Bit of Freedom

I just returned home from camp yesterday afternoon. This past week I was working a retreat so I spent all my time in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning and more cleaning. It wasn't unusual for me to be in the kitchen from 6:30 (or earlier some days) until 2:30 with no break and then to come back at 4:45 to set up for dinner. They were long days but I knew there were only three days like that so I just pushed through them while reminding myself that I would be home soon where I could sleep until 9 if I desired (which I did today). I learned and copied down some camp recipes that I hope to try during these next two weeks.

My list of things to do during my two weeks of freedom is extensive. I want to clean and sort my room, clean my car inside and out, fix some things on my car, make food, read books, watch movies, spend time with Jesus, and some other smaller projects. I probably will fizzle out and end up on the couch watching movies and reading after a few days but right now I am in 'full steam ahead' mode.

On the drive home yesterday, I was making a mental list of things I would like to accomplish during my free time and this idea kept wiggling around in my head. I have had this idea before and a couple people have mentioned it to me. It's a scary idea and I'm not even sure where I would begin. The basis of it is that I have been keeping my other blog for about three years now. I have my favorite posts saved to my computer and I wonder if I could somehow revise them into a book form. What do you think? Am I crazy?

Well I need to go update my other blog with a post about why camp is magical.

Adios for now,
Granny Eyre

What I have learned from an 18 month old

I've spent this past long weekend with the cutest little girl I know (my niece Poppy) along with my family and Jason. Poppy's parents dropped her off on Thursday evening and she stayed through Sunday. I thought a list might be an appropriate way to sum up some of the things I learned about her this weekend.

1. It is appropriate to point for what you want and say "tsss"...you'll probably win the adult over with your smile anyway and they'll give it to you. Words aren't really necessary

2. I am known as "Caa". She's working on the other letters in my name too, she's just not there yet.

3. Her smile is almost the cutest thing I've ever seen.

4. Sugary foods really are the best things to eat. 

5. It's okay to run around outside with nothing but a hat on (Just kidding..this is only appropriate if you're a baby) 

6. Babies are fast; turn your head and they're gone. 

7. She is extremely well behaved at church. The loudest noises she made was to giggle. 

8. It's okay to be very messy when you're eating.

9. It's also okay to eat with your hands

10. Washing hands ("washa washa") and brushing your teeth are both very exciting. 

11. Naps can be and should be about 2 hours long. 

12. There's really nothing cuter than a baby when she's very excited to see you.

13. I can't say "no" to picking her up. She's really cuddly.

14. Diapers are messy.

15. Leave the bathroom door closed. There's too much to get into in there.

16. It's really sweet watching a certain man hold and play with said baby. Jason... :) 

17. Blueberries are awesome and should be eaten right after they are picked. She's gotta have a hollow leg (holding blueberries..and crackers and pretzels). 

18. I love my niece. 

My Life in Pictures

I haven't been up to very much lately, which is the main reason why I haven't posted anything in awhile. However, I decided whether my life was interesting or not, I would post something anyways. So, here goes (in no particular order):

I spent some time playing Frisbee with this cutie. 

I had a cool video of him catching the Frisbee in mid-air, but I couldn't figure out how to upload it....maybe next time.

I watched a beautiful sunset (alone). 

One day last week was spent shucking corn. I personally shucked 4 five-gallon buckets of corn, which doesn't seem like a lot, but you would be surprised how many ears of corn my dad can fit in one bucket! I shucked the corn, and he was inside cutting it off the cob to freeze it. And of course, I had to make some corny jokes!

While sitting outside working on the corn, I witnessed my cat carrying something in her mouth. At first, I was just going to let her keep it, because by the time I can catch her, it's usually too late. Not this time.  I put it up in a tree where it stayed sheltered from the rain (for the most part) under a leaf. When I went to check on it the next day, it was gone, which is probably a good sign when I think about it. Since I have not found the body, I would like to assume that it is still alive.

 

I have also went to the movies twice in one weekend. Once to see 22 Jump Street, and the second time I watched Tammy. I enjoyed both movies, but could definitely say that I laughed more at 22 Jump Street, which kinda surprised me. However, I don't think that I could ever not enjoy a movie that Melissa McCarthy is in. She's just too hilarious! 

Today was spent breaking beans that I picked yesterday. I decided to cook some of them and dry the others. We are having spinach lasagna tonight with some of the green beans I cooked, so I'm going to get off of here and enjoy the vegetables of my labor! haha!

See ya later, 

-Miss Ellaneous

22

It was bound to happen eventually. I love T. Swift too much for this not to happen. I am currently sitting in my bed (shocker) listening to YouTube. In a recent post I mentioned music and how much I enjoy listening to it. Taylor Swift is playing on loop the song 22. When I say this was bound to happen I meant that since we are all 22 now (well except you Megan but hey less than a month now!) and are the perfect audience for Taylor Swift songs saying as she is only a year older than us, then I had to write a post about what it feels like to some degree from my perspective.
T. Swift got it right with the following lyrics,
"We're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time.
It's miserable and magical."
I have been having many very mixed emotions lately. Everyday is a new adventure full of feelings and insight. For instance I went to my folks house on Monday. It was an adventure to say the least, it takes four hours to get to their house when traffic is in my favor. I had so many feelings going through me that day. The biggest emotion of that adventure was confusion. How did things end up the way they are now? Why is growing up so hard? Why are people the way they are? Can things be changed? All of these questions with no answers, it was a bit overwhelming. There were many times that I almost turned my car around and headed back to Berea. I am glad I didn't though. I may never know the answers to ease my confusion. Another adventure of this week was going to church Wednesday night. I felt overwhelmed with happiness because of the children I work with on those nights who are learning more about God each and every time. It is an amazing experience watching their faces light up with the joy that comes with knowing Jesus. On that same story I am also free. In many senses of the word I am free. I am free to do what ever I want to do with no person or thing holding me back. I can get my Master's Degree in Social Work or I can rob a bank if I so desire. Part of being free to do whatever it is I want is to realize and see the pros and cons of my actions. No longer am I able to let others make decisions for me, at 22 years of age I am expected to know what to do with my life. Most of the time however I don't know what I am doing and I just try and let God lead me where He wants me to go.
When you are 22 there are no more big milestones to hit or look forward to. I can drive, vote,  buy cigarettes or alcohol, join the army. All those things adolescents look forward to, they have already passed me by. Sometimes it really bothers me. I feel like I am stuck between being a child and an adult. Where is my place. Where do I belong. I can no longer get away with feigning innocence like a child but older adults don't seem to take me seriously because "I am not old enough to have experienced the world like they have". Hearing people say you're not old enough to know what it's like or saying you're too old to watch that movie makes me feel miserable, confused, and a little lonely even.
But I don't let those moments drag me down too much because I have friends who love me and accept me and my quirks. I have a spot and at least in that simple aspect of friendship in my life I know where I belong. When I am with Cathy, Clare, Megan, and Sarah I can be happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time, as T. Swift put it so plainly. I can be me and not worry about being too young or too old and just live in the moments magical or miserable may they be.
Hey I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22!
Signing off for now,
Captain Something Fun

Of course I have to add a link to the music video for the song that inspired this post.

T. Swift- 22

Broken Heart

I was going to post yesterday about this past week, which has been better, but then yesterday became a bit of a wreck. Brandon decided he didn't like me as more than a friend and broke off the relationship. I really don't understand it yet and I'm kind of an emotional wreck. I wanted you all to know since you're my closest friends. I'm trying to process it all and somehow find God's plan in all of it. I know that God loves me and that he is by my side through the pain of rejection. My thoughts are a jumble so I'm going to wait quietly for God's voice. I just wanted to let you all know that I am alive here at camp. I'm staying the next week to work the retreat. It will be good to be here a bit longer.

-Granny Eyre (who is now one step farther from ever being a real Granny)

Insomnia

I am not really sure what constitutes as insomnia but some days I feel as though I may have insomniac tendencies in me. Lately I have been up way past my normal bedtime, typically eleven pm is when I will go to sleep. I got sick of laying in bed staring out into the darkness so I decided to turn on my computer. In retrospect that was probably not a wise decision. The first thing I did after watching several YouTube videos for the movie Frozen was to figure out a definition for the word insomnia. I love Google! Anything that pops into my head can instantly be searched and found out. It is truly amazing. So back to insomnia (A professor of American History once told me that Wikipedia is a reliable source for basic information and understanding. Ever since that class my junior year I have used Wikipedia as a jumping of spot so to speak in many researching endeavors.) the internet as given the basic definiton of insomnia to be this,Insomnia is trouble falling asleep or staying asleep through the night. Episodes may come and go (episodic), last up to 3 weeks (short-term), or be long-lasting (chronic). This simple search led my brain to start thinking about the origins of insomnia and why is it prevalent in a growing number of college students. (Sometimes I astound myself. I love doing research and finding out new things that just pop into my head. I can spend hours reading academic journal articles and case studies. When it comes to doing a research project for a class however I just cannot bring myself to sit down and just do it. I wonder why that it.) Brown University recently did a study on college students and found out that more than half of the subjects were not getting adequate sleep which led to poorer performance in class. Another interesting study I found while surfing the inter web followed students at a large southwester university. The group of researchers from this study took a different approach on sleeping patterns. What they found out was that 57% of the students studied had other pre-existing medical conditions that were linked to the insomniac tendencies of these college students. I think that information is interesting. Typically I just think of insomnia as a problem all on its own not one that might be linked to another. And now this gets me thinking about labels because to have insomnia in the first place one must put that label on their self or someone else. Are labels a bad thing? Are labels a good thing? I think that the answer is both yes and no. I am going to stop writing now because I've had to erase many of my thoughts typed out that just aren't making sense. Signing off until next time.

Captain Something Fun

p.s. If any of y'all have any research links on insomnia or other interestingly fun things share please.

Five Simple (Healthy) Recipes

With the pseudonym Martha S., I am obligated to post recipes on occasion. Well, this just happens to be that occasion. The hubs and I recently made a pact to be more proactive when it comes to our eating habits.

I'm working on decreasing my sugar intake. He's working on decreasing his intake of empty eats (IOW, food that lacks nutrition). However, we have to keep our budget in mind. I scan local grocery ads and try to use fruits and veggies that are in season to cut down on our cost. Here's what we've been chomping on:

1.) Zucchini Pizza Boats

Photo credit: Reservation for Two

I adapted this recipe after seeing it on Reservation for Two. However, we didn't have the bread crumbs it called for and only wanted it to be part of our dish so I modified it a bit.

You'll need:

1 zucchini
2/3 cup pizza sauce
2/3 cup cheese (We used mozzarella.)
salt or pepper if you desire
additional toppings if you'd like

Preheat the oven to 350. Slice the zucchini in half long ways (in order to form the 'boats'). Using a spoon, scoop out the inside of each half. Put 1/3 cup pizza sauce in each half followed by a little salt or pepper if you liked and then 1/3 cup cheese per half. If you're having trouble getting the halves to stay upright, you can slice a small strip off the bottom to alleviate the issue and prevent it from falling over in the oven. You can add any other toppings you'd like before it goes in the oven. Once the oven has preheated, pop them in for ~20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and brown. Bon apetit!

Only 188 calories per zucchini half based on the ingredients I used

2.) Protein Crepes

Photo credit: Men's Health

I had pinned this recipe on my Health Food board so long ago I couldn't remember it. I often make an effort to utilize all those recipes I've took the time to pin to find meal ideas when planning. This wasn't planned. I just happened upon it one more when I wanted something different for breakfast. It was so simple.

You'll need (This is an individualized recipe so you can increase the servings as necessary.):

2 eggs
3 tbls milk (I used almond.)
1 scoop protein powder
Filling of your choice

Beat the eggs and milk together. Add the protein powder. Continue to beat until the batter becomes smooth. It takes a little muscle power! Then, heat the skillet on med-hi heat. Once heated, spray a little nonstick spray, pour batter in to skillet and cook like a pancake. This means once it begins to bubble quite a bit, you should use your spatula to lift the edge of the crepe and see it its ready to be flipped. Once its cooked through, transfer to a plate and add your filling of choice immediately. I chose to add blueberry cream cheese to mine and it was scrumptious!

235 calories per crepe (excluding the filling which was an additional 35 calories)

3.) Turkey Cucumber Subs

Another so simple recipe adapted from Buff Dudes.

You'll need:

1 cucumber
Deli meat (I used one slice turkey and one slice ham.)
Cheese slice of you choice (We used pepper jack.)
1 tbls hummus (We used supremely spicy)

Slice the ends of the cucumber off. Then, slice it long ways. If you need it to sit still more easily, cut a small strip off the bottom to create a flatter base. Scoop out the inside with a spoon. Spread hummus along one half of the cucumber. Break the cheese slice in half and place on top of the hummus. On the other half, place meat of your choice. It may need to be folded in order to fit well. There you have it! A cucumber sub.

4.) Turkey Meatloaf

Photo credit: Busy But Healthy

This recipe comes from Busy But Healthy and is so delicious and hearty tasting. Because I made only one small change to the recipe, I'm not going to write it here. I'll just give you the link. Link. The change I made was substituting A1 sauce for Worcestshire sauce because we didn't have any here. I also accidentally used 85% lean turkey rather than 99% which I found to have quite a bit better texture and taste if you're no so worried about fat content.

5.) Stuffed Green Peppers

The Grand Finale -- I came up with this recipe on my own! I had searched for a stuffed green pepper recipe that sounded good, didn't use grains, and used ingredients that we already had. I had no luck and decided to get in the kitchen and figure it out myself. I knew it wasn't our lack of ingredients preventing me from finding a recipe. Here goes!

You'll need:

4-5 green peppers
6-8 oz boneless chicken breast (cut into chunks)
1 cup drained, canned beans (I used a tri-bean blend.)
1 cup frozen corn (could also be canned)
1/2 recipe of taco seasoning (This is the one I always use.)
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup cheese (I used Kroger brand Mexican style.)

Heat skillet to medium-high heat. Preheat oven to 350. Once skillet has heated, spray lightly with nonstick spray. Add chicken and cook. Once the chicken is cooked through, add the salsa and taco seasoning. Combine well. Add corn and beans. Turn eye to low/simmer. While it's simmering, prepare the green peppers. Wash them. Cut the tops off and be sure to get rid of all the seeds inside. Then, get a muffin pan to place them in so they'll sit up well in the oven. Start filling them. You'll need to pack the filling in a bit rather than just spooning it in if you want to use up all the filling you've made. Put a tbls or so of cheese on top of each pepper. Place in the over and bake for 20-25 minutes.

210 calories per stuffed pepper

I hope you all try some of these recipes and let me know what you think! I truly love cooking and finding tasty recipes to try. At the same time, I don't like spending a lot of time in the kitchen for every meal. I'm still finding the balance that works best for me.

Also, I'd love to hear recipe suggestions from you! Like I said, I lurve trying new foods.

Until next time,

Sitting in a coffee shop...

Starbucks, to be exact. Drinking a nonfat grande caramel macchiato. I've been a lousy blogger the past week or two because, well, I haven't written. Several exciting blog ideas came to mind and that's all they did. I suppose they're still floating around in my prefrontal cortex somewhere.

I've done entertaining things like host our Because We Beat the British Fourth of July Party, visit the arboretum in Lexington, fish at Miss Ellaneous' pond, watch LOTS of movies (I've definitely improved my repertoire this summer!), purchase more outdoor furniture and cook some scrumptious recipes!

I've also done my fair share of laborious activities including cleaning up after cooking and eating all those recipes, cleaning, maintain my top 5 status on Master of Words, bills, laundry, groceries, and being a socialite.

Interesting things? Had those happen too. My transportation device is on the fast track to no longer transporting. My A/C has been extremely fussy. We found an exhaust leak at the beginning of this week. My muffler is not appropriately attached. I need a new serpentine belt and the wheel bearing is going bad. But, the lassy hasn't let me down yet. Still running like a dream. Just a very faint one. And I may have concussed my head today. Horseplaying with the hubs, he lifted me up on the count of three and we just happened to be under the doorway. Let's just say it's the hardest my head has been hit that I can recall. I sobbed like a child for a few moments. Felt in a blur for a few more. But feel much better now and am thankful it wasn't worse.

Now that you've had a very brief verbal update, I'll showcase a very small pictorial update. I've been lousy at self-documenting too. Oops.

* Party decor and s'mores *

Long time, no selfie.

Started the curly girl method. Very pleased with the results so far. More in detail post later.
BTW, never do this selfie pose. I despise it.

Arboretum / Lexington, KY

Arboretum / Lexington, KY

Now, I can frequent the front porch and be comfortable!

Lastly, in attempts to hold myself more accountable, I am posting it here and now that I will post at least twice in the coming week. Send me black mail if I fail to follow through.

In the meantime, be spontaneous, eat well, take action.

Signing off,

Pinterest Party

And so my obsession with Pinterest continues!...

My best friend from high school is getting married in less than a month (yay!) so we had a Pinterest Party as her bachelorette party. I'd never attended a Pinterest Party but it was so much fun! I'm not sure how they're usually organized, but we asked everyone to bring a food dish they'd found on Pinterest and another one of the bridesmaids organized the craft project while I organized the beauty project! 

For the craft we made light bulbs into flower vases. I've always though that was a really cute idea! Now my vase is on a shelf above my bed with flowers, where I can enjoy them! For the beauty project, we eat chose a nail design and did each others nails. I thought everything turned out nicely. I made kale & artichoke dip; I was pretty happy with how it tasted. Someone made a spin-off on pizza (as pictured above). 

I stole Martha S.'s idea for the drinking glasses because I thought it was so cute and used chalk board tags to write wedding related words on each one! It was a really cute party! I hope to have another Pinterest Party sometime soon, perhaps set up a little bit differently. It would be fun for everyone to bring a craft and the supplies needed to make the craft. So many pins get forgotten about and that's no fun! 

Pin on! 

The Farmer's Daughter

A Bit Rough

This has been a bit of rough week. I only had 9 girls, which is the perfect number, but their personalities were not what I would have asked for. There were a couple who were less than willing to work and the were some hardworkers who felt jipped because the others weren't working. There was drama and rumors. They were rude and disrespectful. They were late. They asked the same questions over and over again. They were loud at night when I wanted to sleep. I didn't feel like my Bible studies were useful this week.

Mean mom had to come out and give lectures sometimes. I don't like being stern but I also don't like disrespect.

I'm sure there were some fun moments, but I'm tired and they seemed to have escaped my memory. Maybe when I look back I'll remember some of the good moments of week four. For now, I'm just glad this week is over and I'm looking forward to a good group of girls next week (aka tomorrow). One more week of camp and then a week of retreat; two weeks at home and then it's off to student teaching.

Making Sauerkraut

On Wednesday, I hiked the pinnacles with my sister and three of her co-workers. It was nice weather for hiking and we did a lot more exploring than I usually do...we went to the lookout as well as buzzard's roost and did a little rock climbing. A buzzard landed about 10 feet away from me, but unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me at the time. I plan to go back again soon with Captain Something Fun and hopefully a few more of the Twenty Somethings if they are able. 

The view from the lookout.

In other news, I made sauerkraut with my dad tonight. I have made it once before, but this time I did more of the work than I usually do. I was mainly in charge of cleaning off the cabbage heads and shredding up the cabbage. Cleaning the cabbage heads involved peeling off the outer layers to remove the dirt and any worms or slugs that may have been eating on the cabbage. My dad says that the white part of the cabbage is best for sauerkraut, so I peeled off most of the darker green leaves. It seems wasteful, but we gave the unused parts to a man who planned to feed them to his horses so I didn't feel so bad about it. Below are a few photos of the process:

The cabbage head before shredding.

My dad built the tool that we used to shred the cabbage using saw blades and wood. You can see it sitting on top of the crock. You have to be very careful using this, since it is quite possible to lose a finger if you aren't paying attention. I preferred to use the knife to chop up the pieces that were too small to shred, while my dad shredded the cabbage. The knife is also very sharp but I have quite a bit more experience with knives, so I wasn't too worried about getting cut. The crock that we used holds up to 10 gallons and is over 100 years old. It is a family heirloom and is extremely heavy when filled with sauerkraut, I might add.

My dad mixing up salt with the cabbage.

 Making kraut is actually pretty easy. All we did was shred the cabbage and mix it with salt. The salt draws the water out of the cabbage and helps to preserve it so it doesn't mold. You want there to be enough water to completely cover the cabbage (You may add water if you need to, but there should not be a need for it if you add enough salt). You cover the crock and let it ferment for about 7 days, storing it in a cool place. Then, we put it in gallon bags and freeze them. My dad commented that this may not follow USDA regulations, but that this is the way he has always done it and no one has ever gotten sick. In other words, if you try this at home using our method then you are doing it at your own risk. I would also not recommend doing this with small children around, as it could be very dangerous.

We made the kraut at a friends house who has made interesting changes to his garage since the last time I was there. The pictures below are simply for your entertainment only. My dad's friend made this porch swing and hung it up in his garage:

I have never seen a porch swing hanging up anywhere other than a porch before, so I thought it warranted a photo! He also has a vending machine in his garage that was a little different than other vending machines I have seen before...

I don't drink beer, but found this kind of hilarious, and a little inspiring. I never knew that you can program the machine to charge any amount that you wanted (in this case, 5 cents). I had also never thought about putting different drinks inside the machine.  They were out of Dr. Pepper, so I had a Coke instead, which is what I usually drink anyways.  Technically, it was free since there was a change jar next to the machine full of nickels. Now I want a vending machine! Haha!

Until next time, 

-Miss Ellaneous

Music

I love music! I wouldn’t call myself a fanatic or anything like that. As I am sitting here alone in my room twisted sisters “We’re Not Going to Take It” is playing on my youtube channel. With technology it is so easy to access music from decades ago and pull it up within seconds without even paying a dime to hear it. I love it! I have gained an appreciation for music in my twenty something years of existence. I do not have a favorite genre. Depending on what type of mood I am in determine what is playing in the background. My best friend tells me she can tell what type of mood I am in based on what is playing through my speakers. I would say that most of the time she is pretty accurate too. For example if I am in an upbeat get up and go do something type of mood, you will hear anything from The Beatles to John Mellencamp to Taio Cruz, Fun, and T. Swift blaring through my speakers. If I am in a reminiscent mood, you will hear a lot of 90’s and early 2000’s music playing through like music from The Goo Goo Dolls, Bon Jovi, REM, Shaina Twain, Backstreet Boys, Destiny’s Child, and Matchbox Twenty just to name a few. I don’t know how to describe the feeling for this next category. When it hits me I just call it my 80’s feeling. A lot of Cher, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Twisted Sisters, and Queen plays during those times. When I am down or stuck in a funk I play a lot of what my best friend likes to call “teenage angst” songs. You will typically hear a lot of Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, and Matchbox Twenty. For the final mood category I will mention in this post, I am dedicating it to my favorite female artist. I guess you can call this my girl power music. T. Swift, Avril Lavigne, Pink, Shaina Twain, Kelly Clarkson, Alanis Morissette, Carrie Underwood, and Martina McBride play through during these times.
I would now like to make a list of songs that fit with specific moods you may be feeling. So here it goes
1. Happy- “Happy” by  pharrell williams
2. Falling in Love- “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain, “I want it That Away” by Backstreet Boys, “Jack and Diane” John Mellencamp, “Call Me Maybe” Carly Rae Jepsen
3. Hopeful- “There Will Be a Day” Jeremy Camp, “I Won’t Give Up” Jason Mraz, “Livin on a Prayer” Bon Jovi, “Better Days” Goo Goo Dolls, “Get Back Up” Toby Mac. “Carry On” Fun,
4. Lazy- “The Lazy Song” Bruno Mars
5. Go Getter- “Do Something” Matthew West, “Run This Town” Jay Z, “I want To Ride My Bicycle” Queen,
6. Winning/On Top of the World- “We Are The Champions” Queen, “Some Nights” Fun
7. Regretful/Guilty- “6 Degrees of Separation” The Script, “How To Save A Life” The Fray, “Apologize” One Republic
8. Heart Broke- “Breakeven” The Script, “We are Never Getting Back Together” Any T. Swift song (legit if you are a girl especially), “Skyscraper” Demi Lovato, “ Just A Dream” Carrie Underwood “Just a Dream” Nelly
9. Tired- “Asleep” The Smiths, “Worn” Tenth Avenue North, “Busted Heart” For King and Country, “I’m So Tired” The Beatles
10. Confused- “Complicated” Avril Lavigne, “Untitled” Simple Plan, “Slide” Goo Goo Dolls, “Story Of My Life” Bon Jovi
For tonight this will be the end of my post. I hope you like it. If you have any suggestions or songs that think should be added write it down as a comment and I will check into it. Signing off until next time,
Captain Fun Something. Peace be with you all.

Finally!

Today was a very exciting day for me in more ways than one. But the best thing that happened was this morning. In my line of work it is really easy to become attached to the little children I work with on a daily basis. So when a toddler just happens to hit a big milestone in their short live I get really excited. I need to back up a few months to the month of February. I had been working in the 1 year old classroom for about a month when a new little friend transitioned over to my room. (Transitioned means he had the cognitive and physical developments appropriate for him to be able to move up, i.e. he could crawl well, and eat table food among other things.) When the new friend arrived he was not yet one years old so he still had to sleep in a crib unlike his other one year old friends. Also among the group of then seven friends only four of them could walk so the new comer was not alone. A month later on his birthday however my new friend was still not walking and all my other little friends were leaving him in the dust so to speak. These past few months have been somewhat of a struggle trying to get the little guy to just take some steps. He has definitely become comfortable pulling himself up and standing there still but he would not walk. I was personally beginning to get worried that the teenie little babies from the smaller room were going to catch up with my little friend on the walking. Today however my worries vanished. I came into visit my little friends in their classroom and the little boy I've been talking about he walked to me! Exciting! Oh my goodness! And then to make the moment even better, one of the little girls who is about a month older than he goes up to him and holds his hand as they start walking. It was so sweet. I just wanted to grab them both up and give them hugs but I didn't. I did hear though from the teacher grapevine that they were able to catch the little guy on video walking and they were able to show his daddy, who was very excited!

In other exciting news I am finally finished with my summer class!! Now just six more credits and I can graduate. It is a strange feeling though. I thought I would feel better when this class got over but yet I still find myself sitting here wondering what in the world I am suppose to be doing. Maybe this will get easier as the summer goes on.
Signing off for now,
Captain Something Fun

What a Weekend!?

This is what I call a weekend! 

Martha S.'s decorations & my Ale81

What an awesome three-day weekend! As Captain Something Fun & Granny Eyre have mentioned, most of the group attended a party at Martha S.'s house on Friday. Martha S. decorated and hosted us in some very cute ways--she's true to her namesake. Everyone brought some scrumptious food, too. I enjoyed every bite! Jason and I brought a cookie cake decorated as a flag. In case anyone is interested, you can find the recipe here. I was pretty proud of how it looked so I thought I should share our photo of it:

Granny Eyre and I even made matching necklaces at the party!

Saturday was also very fun! Jason and I went fishing in a creek. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced. First of all the creek was deep, I guess I'm used to shallow creeks. We wore old clothes (including tennis shoes!) and waded into the creek. When we got out deep enough we started the fishing. We would fish for a while in one spot and then we walk down the creek a little farther. Unfortunately I didn't catch anything but sticks and leaves, but Jason caught several small-mouth bass, a sun-fish and some others. I did get my exercise in though, because we waded a long way down the creek and then had to walk/wade back (probably about a mile total). The water got up to our necks at points; it was really cool water too. A very interesting experience, indeed. Hopefully I'll catch something next time I go! 

Saturday evening Jason and I went out on Herrington Lake to swim and watch fireworks. Apparently the lake puts on a fireworks show every year--WOW. The lake was packed with boats and I can see why. We didn't have the most ideal position on the water for the whole show, but by the end we were in a good position to see most of them. I was in awe of the experience. I can't wait to see it again next year! 

Our view from the boat as the sun was setting.

Sunday was nice too. Some exciting news from the day...Jason bought his first calf from my dad! We are still deciding on her name, any suggestions? 

Too bad weekends only come around once a week! 

The Farmer's Daughter

Learned Things

So I have been learning a lot lately. I can blame the learning for the reason behind not blogging so much these past couple of weeks right. I won't go into great detail about what all I've been up to, but I must say it involves writing many papers and cleaning dishes among other things. Instead I have compiled a list of things I have learned. Here it goes. 

1. Water and laptops do not mix. (You might lose everything including a 20page research paper)

2. Backing up files is very important. 

3. Children never get tired of playing tag. ( neither do I! )

4. One and a half year olds are the best cuddlers. 

5. Three year olds need nap time. (If missed they might get really aggressive and overly sassy)

6. Chocolate chip cookies are the most sought after dessert at the cdl. (It is hard to find even a small crumb floating around on that one special day of the month)

7. Field trips are a good break from the monotony of the everyday. (Added bonus is the interesting learning factor)

8. Best friends are amazing. (Shout out to Granny Eyer)

9. Surprises are the best when unexpected! (Granny Eyer came up for a visit/break this week. She didn't tell me she was coming though until she was at the house. It was happy)

10. One mans trash is another mans treasure has some truth behind it. (Yard Sales anyone?)

11. If a three year old tells you that his grandpa is driving the bus, he is probably telling you the truth. 

12. Bubbles and chalk are very entertaining. 

13. Showers are surprisingly relaxing. 

14. The old wives tale, bad things happen in there's might not be completely true. 

15. Fireworks are LOUD. Nuff said. 

16. In a water ballon toss size really does matter. 

17. Selfies don't make a lick of sense. 

18. Organization is key. (I've lost that key somewhere…)

19. Raisin bread typically has cinnamon in it. (If you are allergic to cinnamon you would especially know this and would be able to smell it out for someone who might not know.)

And last but not least

20.  God knows what He is doing even if I don't. 

Peace be with you and may the odds be ever in your favor. Until next time, Captain Fun Something signing off. 

Some Gardening Advice Needed

So it's been a good week here. I was able to relax and enjoy time with friends. Ya'll were all there last night so I don't feel the need to share about that night, which was super fun by the way.

Short post today: Here's the tomato plants that Captain Something Fun is growing that I promised a picture of. Can you find them?

-Granny Eyre

PS. I'm heading back to camp today so posts may be sparse for the next couple of weeks again.

Everything is awesome!

So what have I been doing during this week of relaxation? Reading, watching Sherlock, going to funerals, blowing my nose, eating, and other unmentionable things. Nothing much to blog about.

Yesterday was exciting though. I went to Cincinnati to hang out with Brandon, which was exciting in itself considering we haven't seen each other since we left for the summer in May. He was a wee bit late, which I expected so I had some time to read a bit more. We started the day in a park, where we intended to hike, but ended up sitting quite a bit as well. I don't know what was going on with this park, but we kept finding all the dead ends to the trails.

After a picnic lunch and some more hiking, we gathered up our sense of adventure and went back into the city with plans to watch the Lego movie. We were a bit early so we decided to check out this really fun store called Jungle Jims, which turned out to be a really big international grocery store. I think Martha S. would really like this store. The Lego movie was surprisingly good. At first, I was like, "really? he likes this? oh my, well at least we're together" but then it started making some funny jokes. The story line redeemed itself towards the end when it pulled together in this really happy moral about letting your imagination be free and learning to play. I won't ruin the ending altogether in case you still want to see it. It's not a movie I would buy to watch over and again, but it was a cute movie, even with that song that gets stuck in my head. Everything is awesome....stop!

After the movie, Brandon was out of plans so I suggested Sonic for a drink since I was really thirsty. Neither of us wanted to leave so Brandon decided to drive around to try to find some Go-Kart place he had seen on Google Maps. By the way, he had thoroughly explored the area via Google maps before coming so that he knew where he was going. Turns out the maps haven't been updated because the road where he remembered the Go-Karts ended in yet another dead end. It was really all a trail though to get us back to the mall, where we stumbled across a really awesome blacklight mini-golf course. We didn't keep score, which was probably for the best since we weren't very good and sometimes we cheated. It was fun to just be silly.

After dinner in the food court it was time for the day to end. All in all, it was a very happy day.

Today, I'm going to have some adventures with my best friend and then (eek!) see all of my friends for a fourth of July cookout. Everything is awesome!

-Granny Eyre