Monday, August 31, 2009

FMM::Nosey



Haven't done a FMM in a while, so when I saw that Emma had done it, I jumped at the chance.

1. Do you cook every night?
I don't. I usually try to cook 4 nights, have left overs one or two nights, and then eat out once.

2. What kind of laundry detergent do you use & why?
Whatever kind Nanny buys.....yes, I still do laundry at her house.

3. Do you do laundry every day or loads at a time?
Once every other week. I know it sounds weird, but I have a ridiculous amount of clothes, so I don't NEED to wash every day. Plus, we don't own a washing machine or dryer.

4. How often do you eat out per week?
Usually just once, unless I'm having a bad week, then it could be three or four.

5. Where do you usually eat out?
Taco Bell, Hook's BBQ, Zaxby's

6. What is your favorite retail store?
Target

7. What's your favorite thing to drink?
Sweet Tea

8. Do you take vitamins? What kind?
I'm currently taking Biotin [vitamin B]

9. What percentage of the household chores to you do?
85%

10. Do your children do chores? {Or will they, did they, etc}
I don't have kids yet, but when I do have kids, yes, they will have chores.

11. Do you go to church?
Sometimes.

12. Do you have a housework schedule?
No, I just do them when I have the time or actually feel like it.

13. Do you keep a working budget?
Yes. If not, Aaron would buy every video game he saw and we would be -$1,000,000 in debt.

14. What do you do at night as a family?
We usually have to do our own things.....homework, projects, etc. but when we can, we watch tv and cuddle, or play the xbox.

15. How do you prepare yourself for a new week?
I laze around on Sunday. ha

16. What do your mornings look like?
Usually get up between 6 & 6:30, mondays & wednesdays I have class from 8-9:45, tuesdays & thursdays I have class from 8:30-11:15, fridays I observe at random schools, saturdays & sundays are usually lazy days.

17. What time do you get up in the mornings?
read above.

18. What time do you go to bed at night?
average time is about 11. sometimes it is way later.

19. How do you manage all of the paperwork that floods into your household? {bills, school work, magazines, ads, etc}
We pile it in a bowl and forget about it. It's not good.

20. How do you keep your household organized? {calendars, charts, etc}
I have a planner and a calendar. Sometimes I forget to update them. HA.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

What is all the buzz about?

I'm terribly sorry for being too busy yesterday to be able to post the winner of the print!

So, here it is..........

The winner is Amber!
Just send me an email @ dhs_cg_chick@yahoo.com
and let me know what address you want the print [Forget me not, right?] sent to.

Ohhh man. This weekend has gone by way too quick. Friday my bridesmaids and I went shopping for their dresses. Surprisingly, it took us less than an hour.


Later on that night, my friends Danny and Emily came to Troy to hang out. We all went to Mikata's. It's amazing, in case you didn't know. Went to pick up some drinks, and then headed home to play rock band.


Everything was fine until Danny decided we needed to play some drinking game. It was pretty fun, but it lead to Danny and Aaron getting trashed, while Emily and I were barely buzzed. The rest of the night [or should I say morning] was really interesting.

Danny managed to pull all kinds of crazy antics, including knocking on my neighbor's door at 2 in the morning, calling an ex girlfriend and yelling at her voicemail, and crying for all kinds of nonsense reasons.

He tried to leave several times, but we kept convincing him to come back in, until we finally got tired of chasing him [around 5:30 in the morning] and let him go.

I will never let anyone get that drunk again on my watch.

Anyways, most of Saturday was spent sleeping, until Aaron and I finally decided to get up and go buy a new computer. It's super nice, but it has taken over my computer desk, which I'm not proud of. Aaron is hogging it, which means my good ol' laptop and I are stuck in random places all over the house, and it is very hard to do the work I need to do without my desk. *sigh*

I am hoping this week just flies by. Friday we are leaving to spend some quality time with my sister in Georgia, and next Monday we have the photo session for our Engagement pictures.

Hope you all have a great week!!




Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I just fell in love...again.

There is nothing hiding the fact that I absolutely LOVE food, but I've been trying to get better about eating healthy.
For most of the summer, I cut out carbonated beverages. Well, once I started getting stressed out, I heavily relied on them. Since Aaron got back, we have been eating so bad, I just knew something had to give.
So, I made a promise to myself to TRY to eat healthier.
Sunday, we made it to the commissary and got some pretty good steals [fresh fruits & veggies, granola, juice], but I couldn't believe how expensive their trail mix & diet/energy bars were!
I took it upon myself to make home made 'peanut energy bars'.

I found the recipe online, and it was so simple! Luckily, I had almost all the ingredients at home already, so I only had to pick up sunflower seeds and peanuts.
You all should really try this if you're into healthy GOOD tasting snacks. It makes 16 bars, and even if you have to spend a little to get the ingredients, it ends up being a lot cheaper [and better tasting] than buy 16 of the pre-made bars from the grocery store.

Peanut Energy Bars

1/2 cup dry roasted salted peanuts
1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds or other chopped nuts
2 cups raisins or other chopped dried fruit
2 cups rolled or instant oats
2 cups toasted rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (optional)
1/2 cup creamy or crunchy natural peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup or honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Coat an 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine peanuts, sunflower seeds (or other nuts), raisins (or other dried fruit), oats, rice cereal and wheat germ (if using) in a large bowl.
3. Combine peanut butter, brown sugar and corn syrup (or honey) in a large microwaveable bowl; microwave on High until bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes. Add vanilla and stir until blended. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until coated.
4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Press down firmly. (It helps to coat your fingers with cooking spray.) Let stand for about 1 hour to harden. Cut into bars.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Individually wrap in plastic and keep at room temperature for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature.

Enjoy!


Monday, August 24, 2009

Break down & tell

Today has been a pretty productive day.
I only had one class, but it really lit a fire under me.
Sometimes I wonder why in the world I decided to be a teacher, but days like today I am just excited about starting my career [and I can't wait!]

I finally had the time to take photos of the prints I finished last semester. You saw the first one in this post. Here are the rest:

(click to enlarge)

"I'll Never Tell"


"Forget Me Not"


"Thank you for a Lovely time"



These are limited edition prints [only 6 in each set!]

Now, on to the good stuff!
One lucky winner will get THEIR CHOICE of one of my prints.
[U.S. Residents only, please]

To enter, leave a comment, tell me which one you like best, and why you like it.
For a second entry, write a post about my contest, and then leave a separate comment on this post with the link to your blog in it.
For a third entry, follow my blog. [This does not apply to those of you who already DO follow; sorry ya'll!]

Winner will be announced Saturday, August 29th!

If you would just like to purchase a print, they are $15.00, no shipping & handling costs for U.S. Residents. [Add $10.00 shipping & handling for Over seas]
For more information, contact me:
dhs_cg_chick@yahoo.com


Sunday, August 23, 2009

You are Manhattan in June

Today, I'm feeling not-so-hot, in a sense that I may throw up half way through this post, but I'm going to continue anyways.

This weekend was pretty much one of the best weekends that I have had in a long, long time.

Friday night, we went to see Inglorious Basterds. Well, I really loved it. I'm not going to review it, but Matt did, so read his :)

Saturday, Aaron, our friend Danny, and I went to Dothan to do a little shopping. Our day consisted of Michael's Arts & Crafts,
Icee's from Target,
too much time in Barnes & Noble,
spontaneity in the mall,
[getting my ears pierced]
and ended with dinner at TGI Friday's with my friend Emily.

See, just a few weeks ago, she was diagnosed with the swine flu.
Although, according to her doctor, she is no longer contagious..........
Now, I really, really hope that I am not really sick, but if I am, I will be pissssssssed that I decided to hang out with her.

Anyways, I'm off to do some homework, and then to bed. Hope you all have a lovely week!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Remember when...

For some reason this morning I decided to go back and look at pictures from my senior year of high school. The good times, and the bad, and as I was looking through them, I started getting a little bit sad. Not because I miss high school, but just because I miss the friendships, the carelessness. Shedrick, Cynthia. Riding to school every day with my best friend. Slacking off so bad that I almost failed a class, coming out of my shell...so many things that four years has made me forget about.

I've seen this done before, but as I looked through my pictures, it really struck a chord. I realized that I wanted to write a letter to my 18 year old self.

Dear 18 year old Jamie,

I know this may seem a little strange, but if you've ever heard the saying 'If I only knew then what I know now...', & wished it were true, you may want to keep reading.

You are about to go through a lot of changes, and while at the time, you may think your life is over, it will only make you stronger. Trust me.

Stop letting people run all over you. You have got to stand up for yourself, or they will make your life miserable. Don't let it happen.

Look in the mirror long and hard, and realize how beautiful you really are. You're so young, fit, and vibrant. There is nothing for you to be so self-conscious about.

When things take a nasty turn, look for a healthy out-let of your emotions/frustrations. Don't turn to bad habits.

Yes, he's gone. No, you didn't get to say good bye, and it is going to be very hard to deal with for a long time, but I promise that you will gain peace. You will think about him every single day, but once you realize that he's in a better place, you will be okay.

And Yes, she's gone, too. And as hard as it is to avoid, do not let yourself get depressed about it. Sure, you'll wonder why your friends keep getting taken away, but in the end you will learn to live in the moment, and appreciate the ones you do have. Don't relapse.

Love doesn't always stay the same. Just like the seasons, it can change in an instant. Be ready. No matter what happens, just know it will all be okay. And in the mean time, do NOT fall for any long-haired, pot-head, ex-military, hippy wanna-be's. Okay?

Other than that, just live. Don't lock yourself up in your room all the time by yourself. All your friends might be off somewhere far away, but go out and make new ones. They will make the time pass by quicker. Never give up. Paint more, read more, and go exploring.

Sincerely,
Jamie [circa 2009]

P.S. You should really work on your temper. Just sayin.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The hills are alive

...with the sound of music.

and the smell of weddings.

Is that weird? Well, whatever.
I suddenly got really, really excited again about the fact that I'm getting married in less than four months. I just bought gifts for the bridesmaids, and found a website that shares coupon codes for websites, and I just got a personalized tshirt with our names and wedding date on it FOR FREE! How awesome is that?!

Plus, I observed at a private school in Montgomery this morning, and now my hopes and prayers are that I get a job at one of those kind of schools when I graduate. $80,000 a year does not sound bad to me! I realize that it is kind of far-fetched, but a girl can have dreams, can't she?

Tonight is $1 movie night at the local theater, and I HOPE we get there before all the seats are sold out for G.I. Joe!