Recently

I've recently decided a few things...

One of the first things is I want to finish school in 2 years or less if I can. I'm tired of school. It exhausts me. It annoys me. It keeps me from doing what I do best...which is working of course and spending time with the people I love. I feel like school is something I can be  good at if I try REALLY hard. Which lately I have been. However, working comes naturally to me. I'm good at working hard. I'm good at learning my job and growing to be great at it.

Yes.I know. The importance of education...blah blah blah.

I have every intention of completing school and I will very happy once I finally get my degree.

But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.

Secondly...

I took Lilo for a walk at the dog park in my apartment complex the other day. There were big dogs there that wanted to eat her and while the people were very nice, it just wasn't Lilo and my's scene.

We need a yard so that I can sit and drink coffee....

or maybe a glass of wine.... 

and watch the bug terrorize anything that moves for as long as her heart desires...

I know right now is not the time, but someday I intend to be in the country again. I love it there.

No traffic.

No one living directly next door to you.

Its where I grew up and eventually it's where I would like to be again.

For now I'm happy living in the city. In an apartment where there is not a lot to worry about. I have my two plants out on the balcony and Lilo and I have plenty of room to go for walks outside.

but maybe someday I could have a nice big yard...a garden...and possibly a clothes line...

Totally not kidding about the clothes line. 

For now, I am content where I am. I have things I need to accomplish, then I will see whether or not my dreams of  living the country life are able to become a reality. It's possible that I could change my mind before then...so who knows? I'm just thinking out loud...

Plus...I definitely feel like it's ok to dream...

hmmm...I can almost smell the fresh air 

Southwestern Baked Chicken and Zucchini

I found a great recipe via my palm pre app that's called "what's for dinner?". It's great because I can type in ingredients and it pulls up recipes. This one was super easy and came out great. I improvised a little but mostly stuck to the directions.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• southwest seasoning (Emerils is a good brand)
• 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, divided
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons chopped green chilies
• 2 medium zucchini, unpeeled
• Shredded mexican cheese

So I forgot to buy green chilies but I added some chopped red bell pepper and chopped fresh jalapeno (both of which were in my fridge) and they worked just fine. 

The southwestern seasoning I made myself from the recipe that I also pulled from the app

Emerils Southwest Seasoning

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

A good reason to save your empty seasoning containers, just make sure you label them afterwards :) 

So once I preheated my oven to 350, I followed the directions pretty closely.

First you slice the zucchini and lay it in the bottom of a baking dish(the recipe calls for a 9x13 but something close to this works just as good) then you pour 1 cup of the enchilada sauce over it. Lay the chicken breast on top and sprinkle with the southwestern seasoning. Next pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the chicken and add the chopped veggies. 

This is what mine looked like at this point

Pop it in the oven and cook it for about an hour, about 50 to 55 minutes in you can add the cheese and let it melt.

When it's done your home will smell wonderful and you will have something that looks similar to this to eat for dinner....

Yummy!

                                      

My roommate wasn't the only one excited about dinner being ready...although in this case the excitement was in vain...

"Is that for me mom??"

Sorry bug, that's for mom and Auntie Krust. 

the uneventful life of me

I am determined to keep this whole "blog" thing going.So.Although I don't really have anything to say....I think it will be OK to put a few snips of what's been going on in my life lately. No it's not exciting at all so please brace for boredom:)

Moving was a pain as usual, but once again I survived. Things are different now, more different than they have been in a long time. I know that everything has a purpose and I know that change is also good sometimes. So I'm happy and I'm hopeful for what is to come of this new situation I am in. Lilo and I are  living in our new home with our new roommate krust and it is going great. Lilo is getting better every day with potty training and she is also getting big, losing baby teeth and growing adult ones all the time. Weird.

She is also crazy, stubborn, gets into everything, and loves loves loves. She makes me happy.

School has started back up and to be honest I'm relieved to have something to do with my time. Not that I have a crazy abundance of it, but like I said things are different. I have allot more time to myself lately which means allot of time to think. It can be overwhelming to face yourself alone every day but I seem to be adjusting just fine.

I miss my sister. We moved to a brand new city together and now it's just me. Its a good thing but again it takes some adjusting. My roommate is great but my sister is my sister.

Austin will never be the same without her.

I know it's good for both of us though. Splitting up also makes me realize we're growing up. Scary as it is I'm alright with it. Who knows where each of us will be in a few years but I'm glad we shared the time we did. One chapter ending leaves an opening for a new one to begin...

I miss cooking dinner for A and watching junk TV with him. He's such a hard worker and I love him for it but it has its moments where it is hard not having him around. The little things you never think about are the things I miss most. Adjusting to feeling single during the week has been a challenge. Once again though, it all happens for a reason and I know it will work itself out.

I'm never certain of where my path will lead next, but I'm always certain of Who is leading me down it. Thank you Jesus for all your blessings. Your forgiveness of me and all of my shortcomings. I know You will continue to work things out the way that You see fit. Lord I believe...help my unbelief...

Organizing with style

I've recently moved into a new apartment and ever since  have become increasingly overwhelmed by the massive amount of crap I own. Because of this feeling I am in a mood to either turn my stuff into something I like to look at or throw it away. I have been known to have several projects going on at once when I find myself in a mood like this one. So here it is, Thursday, and I have successfully completed two projects for my bathroom, rearranged my bedroom, and thrown away random pieces of furniture that have been moved one too many times and subsequently passed from the useful zone into the junk one. 

So project number one is a copy cat DIY project that I stole from my good perfect insane friend R, check out her blog here.

I fell in love with the jewelry holder she made and felt the need to create my own. I have several pairs of earings but rarely wear any of them because they are in a mess of a drawer underneath my sink.

Taking R's advice I moved on to a more heavy duty wire to avoid any tearing. Not quite as fancy looking but much more durable.

Just like that, jewelry I forgot I own! This was a simple project all that was needed was an 8x10 picture frame, a piece of scrapbook paper, an 8x10 piece of sturdy wire mesh (easily found at Lowes or Home Depot), and a good pair of wire cutters to get the size right. A glue gun is a good idea for the paper but I didn't feel like digging mine out of the box I'm sure it still resides in so tape worked just as well. Attach the paper to the backing insert of the photo frame. As for the wire, the original plan was to use a staple gun to attach it to the inside of the frame. However, I found that once I cut it to the perfect size with the cutters it fit in nice and tight and didn't need to be stapled.

So the second project was an attempt to tackle the same problem in regards to my necklaces. I had been searching for the perfect little shelf I could use for this purpose but I only found one's that were more than I was willing to pay. Instead I went to the unfinished wood section at hobby lobby and found two tiny shelves with shaker knobs that were perfect for hanging things on. They were both less than $2.00! Of course I needed to buy acrylic paint, I purchased a solid white for a base coat and a nice butter cream color to finish with.

I applied two base coats and let it dry before applying the final color. Great thing about acrylic paint is it's around .99 cents a bottle and only takes an hour to dry:)

I am quite happy with the finished project, but the pictures don't really do it justice. Wow accessible jewelry that also decorates my wall...yay:)

I <3 projects.

random friday thought

I've had allot on my plate this week and as a result...allot on my mind. So here's a random blog that's basically a thought turned into a awkwardly long paragraph.

I apologize in advance if it doesn't really make any sense:)

I wonder sometimes why my friends can't see what I see. Why they don't think they deserve the absolute best...from life, love, just everything. I hate that they settle. I HATE it. Sometimes I just want to leave where I am and go to them...maybe shake some sense into them. I guess I have this deep need to try and help people. But what if they don't want my help? What if they are exactly where they want to be? It doesn't matter how much you tell them what they are capable of, how beautiful they are, how much more they deserve out of life...they have to make their own decisions. I know this. But it doesn't make me any less crazy. My heart just aches for people that I care about. I don't always think I say the right thing either so it just makes me feel worse. Sometimes I feel SOOOO much that I end up being terrible at expressing it out loud. For someone that "feels" so much I end up coming off as pretty cut and dry. Oh well. I just  pray that some of the things I say help in some way. I just can't help but be honest about what I think. Although I am quick to admit that I can be wrong. It still doesn't change the fact that I say it out loud most times:) I know it will all work out though, it always does. Even though sometimes what I say drives my friends crazy....they know how I am and for some strange reason still call me when they need me.Maybe what we need hear isn't what we always want to hear... I guess that's what friendship has to be, or else we're all just pretending to be something that we're not.

I'd rather be who I really am and annoy the people I love then try to please everyone and lose who I am.

Hello fall...

I just left A's family Thanksgiving dinner and we are on our way home to see my family.. I can't believe another holiday has come and gone. I find myself wondering where the year has went to. It's the season for being thankful so I am thinking about ALL the things from this year that I have to be thankful for. So much has happened in the past few months. God has been so faithful to me but then again there has never been a time in my life where He wasnt't...so why do I say that like it's a surprise? Everything that comes to mind that I am thankful for all leads back to Him. My family, the family that has taken me under their wing here in Austin, my awesome friends, EVERYTHING is from Him that's where my focus should be. The only reson I am able to live the way I do is because of His grace and faithfullness. If i I don't understand that...then I'm not able to be thankful the way I should be. Although everything this year has't been perfect...all of it has taught me where my strenghth lies and Who is in control. So for that...I am SO THANKFUL. Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello fall, i'm so glad you're finally here...

pumpkin cake I baked for thanksgiving

Lilo loves going for walks in the cool weather....

My first week as a new (puppy) mom

The first time I remember seeing a french bulldog was in a commercial for a vacuum cleaner on TV when I was in highschool. I knew right away that I wanted to own one sometime down the road. A has been listening to me talk about wanting one the entire time we've been together, so in the spirit of shutting me up...he took me to get my very own 8 week old puppy on Sunday. She was a very generous gift from him and my family and friends for my birthday. 

Lilo

French bulldogs are a great breed for people that live in apartments and want a dog that will be content living inside for the most part. They are known for their fun personalities and affectionate behavior. They do have their quirks but from what I have read I think that she will be a great fit for me.

I grew up having pets but I've haven't owned one since moving out of the house when I was 18. 6 years later I feel like I'm ready for the responsibility of having a pet in my life.

Honestly, I'm not sure how people have real live children. All I have done since I've brought her home is worry about what she could choke on while I'm at work. It's lame. I know. I'm told by my (much more intelligent) boyfriend that she is just a dog and I should stop treating her like a person. 

Yeah.I'm sure that will happen.

So this week has been our first week together and I feel like we have already accomplished allot. Lilo spent her first night in her kennel on the floor last night, after a few nights of sleeping with me in the bed. She's learning that crying (although it breaks my heart at times) isn't going to get her out so I think she has accepted sleeping there and will make the best of it. It will be a much more comfortable place for her in the long run.

Our morning routine consists of her barking at me while I'm trying to take a shower and then sitting on my feet while I get ready. She only barks as a way of communication, in kind of a "Pay attention to me now!!" way.

Our next challenges will include potty training but I plan on taking that one in strides. For now, I'm letting her get used to her new home and family. So far we are having a blast with her. 

Her right ear also stood up all the way this week (you can see in the above photo that it was almost there). 

They grow up so fast...