Summer: Life's What You Make It.

I was kicked out of summer school.
Super rad, I know. Summer really has been rough. I can't seem to get it right. But that right there is quitter talk. I have too many people relying on my success to indulge in quitter talk.

So what am I going to do about it?

1. Look into BYU summer school courses
2. Call my counselor and let her know the awesome news
3. maybe contact Edwards and tell her (? this option actually scares me)

What am I not going to do?

1. Mope
2. Get stuck on it

I am an immovable force of nature and honestly my summer school was really bad. My teacher wasn't there half the time and I'm pretty sure they had me help falsify documents. Also Major DB was exactly that, a major DB. I know that what's happened isn't good, I have three classes to fix and a limited amount of time to do so. I also have to find a mentor and figure out how I'm going to pass next year.

I really am better than this. I'm kinda super disappointed in myself because I F'ed up this badly.
This certainly isn't the end. But a good general knows when to make a tactical retreat.

So folks, this is your general, sounding the alarm.

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SHUT UP AND DANCE By Alexsipie

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"Wishing only gets you halfway, the other half is hard work." - The Princess And The Frog

Summer: Regularly Scheduled

We interrupt your regularly scheduled seclusion to bring you an update from the summer.
It's been a pretty solid time so far. Still haven't found a mentor, still haven't finished summer school, still haven't gotten enough sleep. I went to Vans Warped Tour on the 19th, I'm putting together a post on that. I'm also putting together a post on presidential candidates. A lot more research in the subject than I first thought. I'm still not completely in academic mode, even though I've been doing school work still. I've been a bit of a vegetable the last two weeks. I need to get to the whole writing, reading, nerdy summer that I love.

Good news? I've been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's been awesome, I forgot how much I love Joss Whedon. 

Today's post is just a quickie, letting you know that I'm still here. Just trying to make my brain work.

Have a beautiful day.

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She Hits Like Ecstasy By Toxicemotions

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” 
― Mae West

Day Forty-Nine: Fitness and a Long Week.

It's my last week as a Junior.
Oh my what a year it's been! Plenty of ups and downs. Changes coming in from left and right. My first prediction of 2015 as a 'weird' year has been pretty accurate up to this point. I know at some point I was ready to call it quits, now I'm here.

What does this have to do with knitting? Nothing, knitting still hasn't happened. I'm scrapping the kitty hat until a better day arises. That does however lead us to to more changes. I'm switching up the tides.

First things first, Anime Tuesday is now Watch It Tuesday. Also It's been moved to Wednesday, therefore I dub it Watch It Wednesday [;)] Fashion posts are now being moved to Tuesday, and come summer I'll be doing more writing Wednesdays.
Yes, this horrendous year is coming to a close. From crazy groups to unexpected friends, this year has given me the full "Grown Up" treatment.

Rad. 

A little update on the whole workout/squat challenge thing. I feel better because I'm getting deeper, more restful sleep. Working out has become a huge steam burner, so if I'm angry or anxious, I just workout and feel a lot better. It feels good to be active and actually doing something. I never thought that exercise could be fun, but hey, I'm wrong a lot.
My mom has put a rule on me for the summer, I'm required to leave the house four times a week this summer. Where and who I'm going to be going with is up in the air. If you have suggestions for an outing, let me know.  I'm also not allowed to sleep until noon, so basically I'm not supposed to enjoy my summer downtime. 

I think that explains most of what's been going on recently. Hopefully you'll understand my absence. 

Have Fun and get wild.

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An Awfully Big Adventure.. By Me!

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“Never fear quarrels, but seek hazardous adventures.” 
― Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

Day Forty-Two: The Start of Something.

I'd really like to not make this post.

I have no knitting updates, the kitty hat lays in desolate sadness. I will be starting stitch week (tentative title) soon.
No, today's post is about health and my lack of. I'm starting a workout challenge. I'm proclaiming it here on my blog so I have less chance of skipping out on it. This is by no means a diet. I hate the idea of diets because they all focus on "This is what's wrong with your body here's a restrictive way to fix it." No, I will instead be going on a fitness journey because I'm not in good shape. I love my body and I love the way I look, but the fact that I'm not able to do cartwheels without hurting myself isn't a good sign.
So I'll be doing "Squat it away May" (*eyeroll*) and also having a meal replacement. My meal replacement is a green smoothie. The reason for the meal replacement is, I've been eating a lot of junk food. It's super bad for my health and more importantly my skin!

I'm really trying to emphasize that this isn't because I don't like the way I look, because I do. It's about my health. Being a healthy individual is really important to me and I think it will help me be a more productive person. I know that there are younger people following me and I don't ever want to encourage something that could be harmful to them. I think it's really important to say that, I know this is going to take a while and I'm not expecting instant results. There is a massive push from media to be beautiful, and to do so instantly. They shove diet pills at twelve year olds who still haven't grown out of their baby fat. Images of impossible waistlines and incredulous biceps litter our landscape. I never want to be apart of that push. I was super heavy set when I was 12 and incredibly insecure about it. My mom always told me to wait until I turned sixteen, I would even out. I did. I grew into my body and found out what made me feel most comfortable. Now I'm seventeen, nearly eighteen, and I still feel that way.
What I'm trying to say is that before you decide you want to go on a diet or do some crazy workout, make sure you're comfortable with yourself. If you're doing something out of a place of insecurity, you might end up going to extremes. Like I tell my little sister, you are incredibly beautiful never think otherwise, society will do that for you.  Make sure you're not being influenced by some ad on TV. That goes for all physical and mental features.

Have fun and love yourself

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Gotta Have You By starfleets

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“Love yourself. Forgive yourself. Be true to yourself. How you treat yourself sets the standard for how others will treat you.” 

― Steve Maraboli

Day Forty-One: Pot Pie and a Luke Warm Reception.

Let's make a pot pie.

Before we get started I feel obligated to state that this was probably the best thing I've ever made. It was also literally the easiest.
The recipe I used can be found over at Mom's Test Kitchen.
THINGS YOU'LL NEED:

-2 tubes (8 ounces/8 rolls) refrigerated crescent rolls

-about 2 teaspoons of mixed dried seasonings, divided (The original poster used thyme ,garlic powder, parsley and oregano. I swapped the garlic powder for basil and added bay leaves.)

-1 can (10.75 ounces) cream of potato soup

-1 can (10.5 ounces) cream of celery soup

-1/3 cup milk

-2 bags (12 ounces) frozen vegetable soup mix*, thawed

-salt & pepper to season

-2 tablespoons butter, melted

-additional dried thyme for seasoning

You'll want to preheat the oven to 375 degrees (Fahrenheit) and prep your pie dish. The recipe recommends a nine inch dish. I sprayed mine with a little cooking oil and got to work on the crescent rolls. First thing I noticed was the recipe said to take apart the 8 triangles, which I did. I then had to attempt to geometrically fit the 8 triangles into a circle. It didn't help that I might of grabbed the wrong sized pie dish. After five minutes of hammering dough into place I finished. I put the crust into the oven for six minutes.

Look at the light dapple that delicious slice of heaven.
I made that, hell yeah.

While that was doing whatever baking magic it was doing, I was prepping the innards. I dumped two cans of soup in a large sauce pan. The celery soup came out fine, but the potato soup was stuck inside the can. I also face the dilemma of the recipe not telling me if I should add a can full of water to the soups. (Quick question on that matter, do you or your family add a can of water to your soup or is it just my family?) I added half a can and then the vegetables. Immediately I was filled with fear and a twinge of regret because what was in my sauce pan looked like way too much filling. I also forgot about the milk until this point and added it hastily. As well as the seasonings. 

At this point you may notice I don't always follow instructions to a T. (Makes everything much more exciting in my opinion.) That means I didn't measure out the proper amount of seasonings. I added about a handful of basil and oregano, two bay leaves, and a pinch of parsley flakes. Allowing that to stew for a little bit, I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing. Until the microwave beeped, letting me know that "Oh yeah I had crust in the oven." I couldn't find the oven mitts, which means the crust stayed in the oven an extra two minutes. When I pulled it out, I saw that the dough had raised a considerable amount. I squashed the crust down a bit, careful not to burn myself (I did burn myself though.) and added the delicious insides. 

I actually managed to make something look like the pin
I want a medal.

I then conscribed the help of my little sister to open the second can of rolls. With the earlier triangle challenge tackled, I was able to get the top crust on much faster. I threw it in the oven, proud of my accomplishment. Then immediately took it out and brushed butter and seasonings on the top. The pie was done in about twenty minutes, just enough time to clean up after my cooking fiasco and make pasta salad. 

Out came the pie and damn did it look good. It tasted even better, slightly savory and filled with vegetable goodness. I might cut the oregano next time, but that's just being nit picky.

To rate this recipe, I'm going to judge it on three things

-Easy to follow.......9/10 (Gotta dock on the can of water. And the fact that I had to use my brain to make the crust.)

-Cost........10/10 I spent twenty bucks on a meal for eight people.

-Deliciousness.........10/10 It tasted better than Marie Calenders.

Have fun and Eat well.

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Old Fashioned By Me!

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“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.”

― Ruth Reichl

Day Twenty-shmfg: Oh Friday, I'm in Love.

[I promise this was actually started on a Friday]
My life can't help but getting weird. Let's look at what happened this week.

• Senior president elections
• Got my younger sister back
• No one died
• Drove a new car
• Was photographed extensively 
• Scrapped a film
• Started a new one

We interrupt your typical Friday post for a Sunday post, since it's still technically a Sunday.

Fun fact, this Sunday was mother's day. For mother's day, my mom wanted noodles with butter. That's not exactly hard to make, nor is it particularly vegetarian. I don't really have a recipe. 

Life got weird this week but hey, that's how this works. Tomorrow I have a project plan and more things to add to my growing agenda. I'm also taking the CAASPP test tomorrow, I'd love to talk about what's on the test in hopes that they improve it for next year, but that's illegal. Oh well.

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I'm feeling incredibly lazy because of the test coming up tomorrow.

In Bed All Day by christine_w

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“What hath night to do with sleep?” ― John Milton, Paradise Lost

Day Twenty: First Foods and The Works.

After much debate and a bit of a late start, I decided to make tacos for dinner. Tacos was almost beat out by chow mien and dumplings. I might make that next Sunday, because it looked absolutely awesome.

Gotta love my fine china right?

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

No meat 'meat'! For all the carnivores
concerned with taste, you can't tell the
difference and this is a lot better for you.

• A bag of your favorite veggie crumbles. I used Boca Veggie Crumbles ($3.49)
• 2 Lemons
• 2 Limes
• Some cheese of your choice (I used mild cheddar.)
• Corn Tortillas
• Taco seasoning of your choice

SIDE DISH:

• Rice
• Cilantro
• Lime.

The way you cook depends on how many people you're feeding. I was feeding six people, so I had to cook everything consecutively. You should start by prepping your seasonings. Cut your fruit in halves, and opening your taco seasoning. Set that aside and start your veggie crumbles on a medium low heat. 

Cook your taco shells to your liking while waiting for your 'meat' to cook. Once the 'meat' turns a dark brown color, add in your fruit juices and taco seasoning. 

Cook your rice to your standards, when it's finished add the cilantro and lime. 

If you cooked the food at the same time, it should all be finished and ready to plate. The meal feeds well and tastes fresh. It cooks up fast, giving you a large amount of protein for a good price.

That's it for today, I'm learning how difficult cooking instructions are to write.

Have fun and Eat well.

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Fire season.

California Spring By Me!

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"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."

-George Bernard Shaw

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(Boca Veggie Crumbles)  

(Taco)

(Important Things)