Time

I haven't had much time this semester for blogging and I am sure that no one reads this anymore. I was looking at the Times today and it's amazing at all the turmoil in the world. It's everywhere and guess what? When I graduate, I will be entering this world! Yay! Actually, I get rather excited about what I might end up doing in 3 years. The doors are open and I have lots of options, which is something I love having. This summer I will be living with my best friend and her family so that should be a lot of fun. I also plan on doing some traveling. Maybe Utah and hopefully Florida!

Schedules

Oh, how I love them! I also love spontaneity but have always liked to know what should happen next in my day. I recently discovered that I have loved them almost since birth. It is now 4 am and I am wide awake. This is soooo not me! I am your typical 8 hours a night girl. I think it's because I have a lot on my mind; papers and life are weighing down right now. Short post? Yes, but I just yawned so maybe I can sleep again!

Tornado

I know that one went through my room this weekend, because it's a disaster! I have so much to do today that it's not funny: laundry, cleaning, homework (lots of this), library run, and then Mass. Someone asked me yesterday how many papers I have had to write this semester and it's 4 so far with another 4-5 after spring break. I have also had a lot of exams as compared to last semester. I think it's at about 3-4 with another 5 during mid-term week. Ok, I should be getting busy.

Noon

I hate coming up with a title for a post, and my schedule is thoroughly messed up! I slept until noon today which is something I never do. What is school doing to me? I think tomorrow I am going to force myself to get up early in hopes of correcting this. I am excited about this evening though, because I'm going to Macy's for a makeover! This is the treat I'm giving myself with my tax return. As well as the little getaway that Ruth and I are going on. Sometimes in life you have to treat yourself, because if you don't you will go overboard on something else. Last year my tax return bought my baby (Mac Laptop) and this year it's going to bills and savings! I'm still trying to figure out the best place to put my savings so that I can make the most on interest. If anyone has ideas I will gladly accept them :-) Ok, time to savor this cup of coffee.

Figuring Out Your Professor.

This is not an east task sometimes. Usually you can go into a classroom, assess the situation, and have it all figured out within a few days or weeks. Well this was not the case with my sociology professor. I thought I understood the information relatively well and that I was prepared for our first test. We got them back and it turned out that maybe I didn't understand because I did terribly on it! I had an hour long meeting with him this morning and he told me that I understand the material, had great participation in class, wrote a great paper, and that it was really just trivial wording throughout my exam that hurt me. Ahhhh! So hopefully we can get it cleared up because I told him I can't afford for my GPA to drop. Right now it's at a 3.5 and my goal this semester was actually to bring it up even more. Ok, time to study for his class!

No Title.

Because I am too tired to think of one. I have had a very strong desire to get my hair highlighted again like I used to in high school. Then tonight the thought to get a perm came to mind. I wonder what I would look like? I don't want to be mistaken as being a poodle :-) I get tired of my hair but then hate to try new things with it, so I feel like I am at a loss. I know I am growing it out which I am very excited about. It's been a long time since I have had long hair. I actually last week talked to my best friend about having a makeover done. I think that would be soo much fun, but only if I had someone else to do it with me. I wonder if she will catch my subtle hint while reading this post :-)

Stupid People

I am usually pretty alert and have my guard up when I am out and about in the city, and tonight was no exception. When I came back to the dorm I parked out back and decided to use the back entrance. Keep in mind it's 11:00 p.m. and the wind chill is 15 degrees. I noticed 3 people sitting towards the back of the building wearing all black with their hoods up. Just sitting there. I hurried into the building and called the campus police to come and check them out. Why on earth would anyone want to sit out there like that? Stupid people...

Amusing

While I was reading an article about the upcoming election I happened to notice that Hillary Clinton and I have the same body shape. Lol. I thought that was funny.

St. John of the Cross

Feeling particularly low tonight I thought about how maybe I am experiencing my dark night of the soul; something similar to that of St. John of the Cross. Below you will find some quotes that I found very encouraging tonight. I really really needed it!

"The Lord measures our perfection neither by the multitude nor the magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them."

"I wish I could persuade spiritual persons that the way of perfection does not consist in many devices, nor in much cogitation, but in denying themselves completely and yielding themselves to suffer everything for the love of Christ. And if there is failure in this exercise, all other methods of walking in the spiritual way are merely a beating about the bush, and profitless trifling, although a person should have very high contemplation and communication with God."

"Live in the world as if only God and your soul were in it; then your heart will never be made captive by any earthly thing."

"O you souls who wish to go on with so much safety and consolation, if you knew how pleasing to God is suffering, and how much it helps in acquiring other good things, you would never seek consolation in anything; but you would rather look upon it as a great happiness to bear the Cross of the Lord."

"Though holy doctors have uncovered many mysteries and wonders, and devout souls have understood them in this earthly condition of ours, yet the greater part still remains to be unfolded by them, and even to be understood by them.
We must then dig deeply in Christ. He is like a rich mine with many pockets containing treasures: however deep we dig, we will never find their end or their limit. Indeed, in every pocket new seams of fresh riches are discovered on all sides.
For this reason the apostle Paul said of Christ, "In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God." The soul cannot enter into these treasures, nor attain them, unless it first crosses into and enters the thicket of suffering, enduring interior and exterior labors, and unless it first receives from God very many blessings in the intellect and in the senses, and has undergone long spiritual training.
The gate that gives entry into these riches of his wisdom is the cross; because it is a narrow gate, while many seek the joys that can be gained through it, it is given to few to desire to pass through it."

Dating

I am not ashamed to say that I would like to go out on a date. It's been a year and a month since the last time that I was out and that's way too long. Even if you form a friendship and nothing more happens then it was still worth it, but I am tired of only having a relationship with the paint on my walls. John, who happens to be my ex, was telling me earlier how he needs to start asking women out, and I told him he needs to talk to all the men in this country. None of them ask you out anymore! There is a problem with this so what is a girl to do?

Catching My Breath

This week has been more crazy than normal for some reason. I feel like I have been running a marathon since Monday morning. I am so looking forward to doing nothing all weekend but homework and possibly driving home on Sunday. I have been trying to get ahead but it's starting to not work. Arg. I will write more later when I am fully awake, and have all my coffee in me.

My Neighbor

For 2 mornings in a row I have been woken up by my neighbor's alarm clock! She has a habit of never being in her room which is interesting. Last semester her mother called the police, because she up and disappeared for about 5 days. So she is an interesting person to say the least. I will say hello to her and and she never says anything back.

Disturbing

I know this is really really random, but I recently found out that HIV can be transmitted through kissing. I had no idea and talk about frightening! I don't remember ever being told this in school. I wonder how many people have innocently kissed a person who may or may not have known that they had it. How romantic to be on a second, third, or fourth date and have to ask if the person has been tested.

Excitement

There isn't much of it right now in my life. My weekend was rather full of shopping with my best friend and doing school work. I am a week ahead right now in homework and I really hope it stays that way! I like having that feeling of accomplishment rather than panic. I also will hopefully be working in the evenings which will help tremendously :-) I know it sounds strange to some, but I like working and feel really strange not doing it. My birthday was really nice as well. I was rather shocked because of my history, but I guess this will teach me a lesson. My best friend, her husband, baby, and I went out to dinner and then watched a really cheesy movie. And I do mean cheesy! We cracked on the poor characters quite a bit. Well I am finally becoming sleepy so I am going to crash.

24

Well it's official, I am now 24 and yet again I feel no different. I have never cared for my birthday because something usually happens. So I am really trying to not be depressed and negative about it. When I was little usually the party was canceled or most of the people couldn't come because of the weather. Understandable, but tell that to an 8 year old. Then I as I got older I didn't have friends to even invite. So that make it just peachy when January rolled around. Now that I am older it's usually that I had a crummy day or bad news. You get the drift. I remember when I was away at Bethany and I went the whole day and no one mentioned my birthday. I went into my room and just sobbed because I was so far from my family. Well someone remembered that night and they tried to make it up to me. It was thoughtful. Ok, now that I thoroughly done my whining I will go. I hope all is well with everyone!

What Is A Person To Do?

Well it happened again. I went to my psych class and left with a pounding head. What are you supposed to do when your professor gives you a headache? She is very nice, but her voice is shrill to my ears. Very high pitched. I am thinking maybe ear plugs? Anyone else have ideas? I also found out some great news today! I am no longer considered a dependent on my parents, which means next semester I will receive a lot more financial aid to pay for school. Hallelujah! That is such a relief. Well that's all for now.

My Crazy Life.

I came back to school on Sunday and classes started back yesterday. I am taking 6 courses this semester as well as working. I hope I don't go insane at some point. I have never liked first day anything so school is no exception. My stress level is super high and I am usually ready to burst into tears at any given moment. I was frustrated by the fact that the internet wasn't working and tried pushing all the buttons on my phone hoping to find the correct one for Apogee. Well I found the right one as well as the one for 911. So not even 5 minutes later I about had my door knocked down by a police officer. I of course about wet my pants because I was obviously not expecting this. So that was my first bit of excitement. I was also thrilled to be asked by my political science professor if I wanted to be his work study! I hate working in the campus "library" so I was ecstatic. The only problem is that I am in his intro class and that's the one he needs the most help with. So he is checking into it for me. Pray that it works out :-)

This afternoon I had a splitting headache and desperately needed my coffee. So I am here in my room getting things ready when I turn around and attempt get my filters. I don't know what happened but somehow I tripped and coffee grounds flew everywhere. I mean everything was covered: desk, books, drawers, floor, clothing...everything. I have no sweeper to clean this mess up so here I am on the floor painstakingly picking up coffee grounds for 20 minutes. That was fun. I am sure there has been other excitement but it's not coming to me right now.

Dinner

I had the kids last night and tonight, and I knew we were going to be having pizza. The pizza we got from Papa Murphy's was sooo good! I think it's my favorite (it was also low-fat) :-) So I wanted to have some sort of veggie to go with it and knew I had cauliflower and 1 parsnip left. I got creative and told the kids we were having something like mashed potatoes. So here is another great recipe that the kids loved and they had no idea it was veggies! I added ground flax seed to mine and it was good. It adds a nutty flavor, but isn't overpowering.

1 parsnip
1 1/2 cups of cauliflower
1/2 cup of onion and celery
salt
pepper
garlic powder

* Chop everything up and bring to a boil. Let it simmer until everything is tender and easy to mash. Drain all the water but a little, and mash well. Then add your salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add however much you like. Once you have it plated top it with a little bit of cheese. I used Havarti and it was very tasty. Havarti is a smooth cheese that has a distinct flavor, but it's not too strong.

Chickpea Burgers

I need to add more flavor next time, but they were good. I added a few extra things that the original recipe didn't call for. Next time you buy canned beans at the store check the ingredients! I was looking over the label and a lot of them have corn syrup in them!! Can you believe it? I know I couldn't. So if you want to avoid that buy organic. They also use sea salt instead of regular salt so it's even better.

1 can red kidney beans
1 can chickpeas
1 onion (diced)
1 carrot (shredded)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder
parsley
Mrs. Dash

*Bring the beans to a boil and let simmer 5 minutes. Drain them and then mash them as well as you can. Add all the other ingredients and stir well. This makes about 5-6 medium burgers. Then grill them or pan fry them in a non-stick skillet. This is an inexpensive meal to make that yields a lot of food! You could also add bread crumbs if you would like.

Smoothie Recipe

I hope everyone will try this and let me know what you think!

4 strawberries (fresh or frozen)
4 peach slices (fresh or frozen)
1 small container of low fat peach yogurt
1/2 cup of silken tofu (organic if possible)
splash of orange juice

Today

Today my dad's family came over and we celebrated January birthdays. Mine is the 18th, my mom's is the 25th, and my aunt's is later in the month. I got the cutest coffee mug from my aunt and uncle that has a pug on it with Max's name underneath :-) I like it, but I will store it away here at the house due to space issues. We also had Schuler's cake and it was amazing! I hadn't had it in ages and it is such a treat. They really do have the best baked goods that I have ever tasted. I have a lot to do this week to prepare to go back to school. Tomorrow I need to go get tags for my car and work on my schedule, Tuesday I am going to the YMCA with my cousin for an aerobics class, and Wednesday night I have a meeting. My parents leave Friday for Florida so I will have a few days here to get myself packed up. I am excited, but hope I don't get overwhelmed. Time for bed!

Smoothies...Yummy!

I have discovered while home just how much I love and enjoy smoothies! My favorite so far is strawberry and peach with orange juice :-) It was sooo good and is a guilt free snack. I am hoping that I can have a blender in my room when I go back to school because I want to start having them as breakfast on a regular basis. I am also going to see if I can have a George Foreman Grill in the room so I can eat healthier. It's rather funny to picture my room with a fridge, microwave, blender, grill, and a coffee maker. Lol. I will have everything but the stove. I miss cooking so it will be nice if I can add these few things.

Am I Strange or Something?

I am completely different from the rest of my family. My dad gets up this morning and wonders why I am not watching the parade. I hate parades! I always have, but everyone else in my family loves them. They also love New Years Eve and think it's so much fun to watch the ball drop at midnight. I think it's pointless and rather boring. Why am I so different? Then when I don't watch what they watch I feel guilty, but why should I sit there for 2 hours and watch something that I am not interested in?