grid project - week 8

Ohhhhhh man. I am behind on this stuff. Well! Let's dive right in then, shall we? Last I recall, I was still in Minnesota...*cue dream sequence*

Sunday, July 11: Had dinner with the parents and some family friends in Dorset, MN.
Dorset is a funny little town that my family has visited every couple of years since I was little. It's full of restaurants and shops that span the length of about two blocks or so...they print an Onion-like newspaper every year and elect a "mayor" by having the people who visit Dorset pay a dollar to put their name in the running. Their website has an article about last year's mayor that had me giggling a few times, which you can find here (scroll down to the heading "Dorset Mayor Race"). Again, as you read it, keep in mind that Dorset is super small and, in fact, unincorporated. Gotta love rural Minnesota. Anyway, a bunch of us piled in a few cars and drove to Dorset to eat at the best Mexican restaurant ever (Compañeros) before heading over to Dorset House for the most delicious ice cream cones in all the world. It was a blast!


Monday, July 12: Visited Grampa in International Falls.
My Grampa is one old dude. I'm pretty sure he'll be something like 94 next month, so as you can imagine, things are starting to wind down for him. His memory is slipping a bit, he's losing motivation, that kind of thing. Every time I'm in Minnesota I make sure to take a day and drive up to the Falls to see him, which usually involves Bingo, a game of cribbage, and a cookie or two from my Gramma's super special cookie jar. Grampa brought it with him when he moved out of the house and into the assisted living place, and now has it in his room at the nursing home. My Gramma died when I was a sophomore in high school, but Grampa always keeps a good assortment of cookies in the jar...which we grandkids just love! I also like hearing his stories about the different jobs he had growing up--working in the logging camps when he was seventeen, or climbing towers to change lightbulbs as an electrician...my Grampa is quite possibly the most hardcore person ever. I'm glad that I get to hear about his life, even if he doesn't quite remember who I am.


Tuesday, July 13: Spent the day in the hospital.
This was the big day of my mom's surgery. For those who might not be aware, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2009 and has been dealing with the aftermath ever since: a right-side mastectomy followed by months of chemotherapy and radiation, and a few other preventative procedures...but all with a smile on her face, which is astounding. Anyway, the purpose of this surgery was to do a left-side mastectomy and to begin the reconstructive process. Sooo we piled in the car at 7:00am and arrived at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the Cities a little before noon, checked Mom in, waited for a couple of hours until her surgery started, and then sat around for about ten hours while Mom had her surgery and spent time in recovery. Dad and I finished a puzzle in the waiting room and watched a couple of documentaries on PBS (one about two jumbo jets that crashed into each other, and one about two ships that crashed into each other...I'm sensing a theme here). And around midnight, we got to a family friend's house and spent the night there. Mom did great, and so did her surgeons!


Wednesday, July 14: Had lunch with an old friend.
I spent Wednesday visiting my college...ahhhhh nostalgia! I hung around my orchestra director's office for a bit and heard about all of his adventures, and then I headed over to the other campus to visit with my academic advisor and to see how things are going at my former place of employment (the School of Theology, where I was an office assistant). While I was at the SOT, one of my college friends (who is now doing grad school work there) stopped by unexpectedly and we went over to the fancy new Refectory to have some lunch. All in all, it was a wonderful conversation. We were on quite opposite ends of the theological spectrum in college, but lots of things have changed for both of us these last few years, and it was great to have a civil, meaningful discussion about theology and whatnot. I also had dinner with another college friend in St. Cloud, which is about fifteen minutes from campus. So much good conversation that day!


Thursday, July 15: Went to a Bastille Day party.
One thing that you can bet on when my close group of friends and I get together is that the making and eating of food will be involved. So since Bastille Day was on Wednesday, we decided to celebrate with a party at Robert's house! Lots of good food, good friends, and late night conversation was to be had, since many of us have been spread across the globe this year and hadn't seen each other since last summer. So we had quiche, Niçoise salad, yummy bread, and some super amazing chocolate mousse, and just enjoyed each other's company while we could! I spent the night at Robert's house and then woke up bright and early on Friday to go visit a fellow youth minister/college friend at her parish in Monticello.


Friday, July 16: Had dinner with friends at Pizza Luce in Minneapolis.
After returning form Monticello, I went to Minneapolis with Christa where my friends Jo, Karen, and Laura live. (Well, Laura got a place closer to campus with Madeline since then, so technically it's just Jo and Karen now, but WHO CARES?! You get the idea!) Anyway, we went to dinner and had a grand old time. Pizza Luce is a really cool place, but GOODNESS ME, THE HIPSTERS! All we could do was laugh...I mean, look at them--trying so hard to look like they aren't trying hard to be the coolest thing since the refrigerator. Slouchy hats, flannel, ironic t-shirts, skinny jeans, choppy haircuts, scarves galore, thick-rimmed glasses, obscure musical taste...need I go on?! There's a reason that Pizza Luce was voted "Best Place to People Watch" in 2008.


Saturday, July 17: Navigated the flight home with EASE!
I'd say that's pretty self-explanatory. No bad weather, no near misses, no screaming babies, nothing. It was great. I actually really like flying alone. Don't know why...I just do.


Phew! One more week down, and...so many more to go. AHHHHH! Stay tuned!


Love you, miss you, blah blah blahhhhh...

grid project - week 7

Woooooo, GP Week 7 update as promised!

Sunday, July 4: Went to the Regatta/fireworks.
I spent the Fourth with one of my friends here in the Burgh. We started the afternoon with a little party up on Mount Washington--one of Fr. Bob's priest friends was having a potluck at his church/rectory, and somehow I got invited along. (For what it's worth, the taco dip was DELICIOUS!) Anyway, we rode the incline to the downtown area and went to this thing called the Regatta...it's basically a big shindig where the rivers meet--there are boat races, musical performances, kids' games, fireworks, and (my personal favorite) freestyle motocross shows. I tried really hard not to freak out with all the people--thousands and thousands of them, all crowded in a relatively small space. Luckily, I didn't have a panic attack and DIE. Anyway, we went back up to Mount Washington and watched the fireworks from the church up there before heading back to the North Hills for some well-deserved sleep. All in all, a very busy, very fun day.

Monday, July 5: Ate some raspberry sherbet with white chocolate chips.
Simple pleasures, right? It made me happy, and that's what matters in the Grid Project!

Tuesday, July 6: Went to Kennywood Park for the first time EVER!
Kennywood is a Pittsburgh tradition. For all you Minnesota peeps, it's the Pittsburgh equivalent to Valleyfair. It's strange, though--Kennywood has special days throughout the summer for different groups of people to come to the park and represent (what whaaaat), based mostly on where people live or what ethnicity they are. For example, there's Canonsburg Day, and Polish Day, and Italian Day, and Jewish Day, and more. Well, every summer there is a big event called "Catholic Youth Day" at Kennywood, and I brought a carload of youth. It was a fun day for the most part--except for the part when I almost fainted. But really, other than that it was fantastic!

Wednesday, July 7: Reminded myself why I LOVE middle schoolers.
This marked the first day of a summer program I'm coordinating with a bunch of North Hills area youth ministers called Summer Stretch. Basically, it's a six-week service/social program for kids in grades 6-8 that happens each Wednesday. It travels around to a different parish in the North Hills each week so that each youth minister only has to do one day of planning for six solid days of programming. All in all, it's a great program that I'm excited to be a part of. So when forty middle schoolers swarmed the auditorium at St. Teresa's for Summer Stretch's inaugural session, I instantly remembered why I love middle schoolers so much. They're HILARIOUS! They're open to anything, they always tell it like it is, and they have so much energy! I love middle schoolers. I LOVE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS! I can't wait for this fall when I start up a program for them! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAYYYYY!

Thursday, July 8: Had s'mores at a friend's house...in MINNESOTA.
Yes, in the midst of all the ministerial chaos, I was also getting ready to head back to the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes for a little "vacation." So after navigating my flight (scratch that, flights--three, to be exact!) to Bemidji, which involved SPRINTING through the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and uttering a few..."choice phrases"...I finally made it home. It was wonderful to see my mom and dad waiting for me at the little airport in B-Town, and after a yummy dinner with them, I went to my friend Erika's house and had some quality campfire/s'mores time AND some quality puppy time too!!! She saved a pregnant dog from certain death a while back (long story), and it had some kids, so we got to hang out with them for a little bit. The puppies were each about the size of a Chipotle burrito. SO CUTE! I need to get a puppy.


Friday, July 9: Traveled to North Dakota to see my grandma and other relatives.
Pretty self-explanatory, I'd say. It's so weird...my oldest cousin on that side of the family is going to be a senior in high school this year. When did that happen?! I guess I don't see them a whole lot, so my images of my cousins are stuck on a few years ago--no matter how many times I see them or get pictures of them or whatever, they're just...frozen in about the year 2005. So in my head, my cousin Joey (the senior) is in about seventh grade or so. It's wacky. Either way, it was a lovely (albeit SHORT) trip out to the No Dak.

Saturday, July 10: Went to an ordination.
You may remember from one of my Rome vacation videos that we visited a friend, Craig Vasek, who is studying at the Pontifical North American College (a seminary for guys from the United States who are preparing for the diocesan priesthood). Well, he was a deacon then, and on July 10 he was ordained a priest at the Cathedral in Crookston, MN. It was a beautiful thing, and I felt so blessed to be a part of it!

Okie dokie, one step closer! I'll try for another update tomorrow, but we'll see. For now...

Love you, miss you, blah blah blahhhhhh!

grid project - week 6

Things have gotten pretty nuts around here. I'm sorry that these GP updates keep getting pushed back and pushed back...I'll be taking the next couple of days to update you on the last...oh, month or so of my life. Please be gentle with me!

Okay, now...GP update for Week 6:

Sunday, June 27: Successfully kept score at a softball game.
I know it doesn't seem like much, but I was really proud of myself when we got to the end of the game and I had hardly screwed up at all! There's a whole complicated system involved in keeping score for softball, and I've been trying to learn it for the days when Teresa (one of the other coaches) isn't there to do it, since Jeff and Dan are both base coaches/worried about other things. As of right now, I have a basic understanding of how the scorekeeping thing works, and though there's always more to learn, I'm satisfied with the working knowledge I have.

Monday, June 28: Skip Day.
I know, I know...but it's only my second Skip Day in the entire six weeks I've been doing the Grid Project! Cut me some slack, yo!

Tuesday, June 29: Went trash-picking and found a lovely table and chairs set for my "dining area."
It's common knowledge in Pittsburgh that if you have a big item in working condition that's going in the trash, you put it out on the curb a day early so that if someone driving by sees it and wants it, they can make arrangements to come and pick it up before the garbage man (or woman, I guess) does. So one of my friends and I went trash-picking after dark on Tuesday night. This one house was getting rid of a perfectly wonderful table and chairs set, which I snatched up, and a really nifty lounge chair and a TV stand, which my friend took. All in all, it was quite productive...and FREE!

Wednesday, June 30: Had some FANTASTIC frozen yogurt.
There's a little place up in Cranberry called Simply Yogurt. It's probably the most amazing thing ever, so I took a couple of my youth group kids there after a meeting we had. It's honestly the most genius thing I've ever heard of...you walk in and pick up a cup, put as much frozen yogurt in that cup as you want, then choose from a buffet of toppings ranging from granola to gummy worms to fresh fruit to candy bars. And THEN! At the end you just pay by weight rather than the specific things you got. BRILLIANT AND DELICIOUS!

Thursday, July 1: Beat a world on Super Mario Bros 3
Yeah yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true! I've never been a huge video game person--we never owned an NES or anything like that when I was younger, but the few games I ever played were pretty much limited to Super Mario Bros 3 and Duck Hunt...and that phase in seventh grade when a particular friend and I played hours and hours of Pokemon Snap. Don't judge me! Anyway, I beat World 2 on Super Mario Bros 3 and felt really cool.

Friday, July 2: Went to a campfire and played Catch Phrase.
One of my adoptive families here invited me over for a little campfire. It was really fun to spend some quality time with this particular family--the summer has been pretty intense for them and for me, so it's rare that we get to spend time in the same place for any significant amount of time.

Saturday, July 3: Made some new friends around a bonfire.
Apparently my Fourth of July weekend was all about fire, because I went to a young adult BBQ/bonfire hosted by the other church I attend. It was so much fun--they had some sweetomatic fireworks and good food, and everyone was really nice. One guy brought his guitar, and we sang songs around the fire as things quieted down toward the end of the night.

Okay, so my plan is to have a Week 7 GP update for you tomorrow...AHHHH!

grid project - week 4

Is it already Week 4 of the Grid Project? Daaaang, time sure flies! Well, let's get right to it--your weekly GP update:

Sunday, June 13: Played foursquare.
After an embarrassing softball game in which we lost to a team that hasn't won a game in THREE YEARS, a bunch of high schoolers came back to St. Teresa's for root beer floats and some sweetomatic hangin' out. We ended up playing foursquare in the parking lot for over an hour. It really brought me back to my Underground Foursquare League days during the summer at St. Ben's--playing on the grass, making squares out of stakes and string, developing our signature moves (UNICORN STING!), and making arbitrary rules ("Name a state every time you hit the ball!"). It was just a really fun time all around, and I was excited to have a chance to get to know some of the softball kids a little better.

Monday, June 14: Started the day with Sun Salutation.
For whatever, reason, I was just in a yoga-type mood when I woke up on Monday morning, so I did the most obvious thing: sun salutation! It's basically a series of poses that help you stretch out and wake up. So I was like, "WHAT UP, SUN?!" and that day ended up being much more productive than I would have imagined.

Tuesday, June 15: Had a delicious smoothie.
The daughter in one of my youth group families invited me over for a mid-afternoon smoothie, and it was amazing! She made it with frozen strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, plain yogurt, and Splenda, so it ended up being not too terrible for me, and quite yummy at that!

Wednesday, June 16: Survived a trip to the Home Depot...with three teenage boys, an 8x4 foot piece of foam board, and my YARIS.
I honestly don't know how we pulled this one off, but...we did, and it was awesome. Basically, we had to create a set for Vacation Bible School (which starts tomorrow!), and it's typically a job left to a group of high schoolers...which means that I get to be in charge of it. Great. Anyway, while three girls made palm trees in the youth room, the three boys and I went to the Home Depot and bought a giant foam board (you know, the pink kind that's apparently used for insulation or something). Of course, an 8x4 foot anything is not going to fit in my little car, even without three teenage boys, so the logical thing was to have them cut the board into three pieces before we left the store. The dude who cut it for us definitely got some funny looks from several of his co-workers who actually stopped whatever they were doing to watch him complete the task. (I guess they typically only cut big wooden planks...but when have I ever been conventional? Haha...) Either way, that was only half the adventure, as we also had to get back to the church with our soon-to-be foam hippopotamuses. Five cool points to me for spelling hippopotamuses correctly the first time! Needless to say, it was an adventure.

Thursday, June 17: Dug my summer clothes out of storage.
It has been insanely hot here the last little while...and I finally gave in and pulled the flat tote containing my summer clothes out from under my bed. Now, when I say "summer clothes," what I really mean is "several capris and one pair of shorts" because other than that, my wardrobe stays the same year-round. Coming from Minnesota, I'm conditioned for cold weather--which is why I have absolutely no problem wearing short sleeves in the middle of winter, and why I don't really own any thick sweaters...but I don't think all Minnesotans are like this, and it's possible that I'm just weird like that. This also means that crazy hot weather (hellooooo Pittsburgh!) doesn't do well for me--I've had several headaches these past couple weeks from a combination of generally crazy weather and a bit of dehydration. NOTE TO SELF: Migraines suck, so drink more water, fool!

Friday, June 18: Developed a completely legit budget.
I know, I know...I should have done this months ago, and I kiiiiind of did. But now that my loans are going into repayment, I had some adjusting to do. So now, in addition to having the general monthly amounts that I'll be paying out, I also figured out which paycheck those amounts will be coming out of and what day they're due (or when I have automatic payments scheduled). ALSO! Something slightly related that I'm a bit proud of is this: with the exception of (I think) one or two accounts, all my accounts/statements/bills are PAPERLESS! I'm so happy that I don't have to deal with all that junk mail and all those stamps and envelopes and blah blah blah...it means I can save my envelopes and stamps for writing letters to people who really matter to me. Yay!

Saturday, June 19: Bought fair trade vanilla extract.
I've been meaning to get some more vanilla extract for the last three weeks or so, but I'm quite particular about my vanilla, so I hadn't gotten around to it...until yesterday! I try to buy fair trade vanilla if I can, because I like knowing that the people who produce it receive fair wages and all that...but not many places around here have fair trade certified vanilla extract, so it took a bit of research to find out that a store called Right By Nature in the Strip District has exactly the kind of vanilla I was looking for! So during a torrential downpour, I traveled down to the Strip and got my vanilla, and there was much rejoicing.

Alllllllright, peepskis, it's time for bed. I had quite the early day today (which I will talk about later), so I'm absolutely exhausted! Hope you're doing well--and Dad, on the off chance that you're reading this:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I LOVE YOU!

grid project - week 3

Your weekly GP update:

Sunday, June 6: Saw the Avett Brothers in concert.

I don't really think I need to talk more about this, since I already wrote a whole post on it. But let me say once again that it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. AMAZING!

Monday, June 7: Cleaned my apartment.

It was badly needed. Like...reeeeeally badly needed. So I did it! Anyone who's ever lived with me knows that it's difficult for me to give a flying rat's nose about how tidy my living space is...so it took a heck of a lot of willpower for me to clean everything up. (SIDENOTE: The GDC [that is, GIANT DEMON CENTIPEDE] made another appearance just moments ago. But this time, I didn't scream. AHHHHHH. Well, I dunno...does a digital scream count?)

Tuesday, June 8: Squeezed some lemons.

I know this seems kind of silly, but I'd never squeezed lemons before, and we were having lemon oregano chicken for dinner, so I was charged with this difficult task. And don't worry--I completely prevailed. Who's "we," you ask? Well! Tuesday was an exciting day, because I spent most of it with a fellow youth minister who works down the road (Caroline), her husband (Chris), and their two daughters (one's two and the other is nine months). Caroline and I have similar interests (namely, social justice-y things) and we have very complimentary personalities, so it was nice to spend time together--we accidentally locked ourselves out of her car (thank you, AAA membership! I knew I'd need you someday!), perused the Ten Thousand Villages Store, went to the South Side farmers market, had some delicious dinner, and generally just had some good conversation. It was a wonderful day, and I hope Caroline, Chris, and I can continue to get to know one another and all that. So you see, squeezing lemons was one of many things I could have used...Tuesday was a great day!

Wednesday, June 9: Went for a late-night, post-thunderstorm walk through my neighborhood.

It was so nice...there was hardly any traffic, the stars were finally starting to peek through the clouds after several dreary days of rain, and I was able to sort through some complex thoughts I've had recently.

Thursday, June 10: Went early-morning grocery shopping.

Here's something you might not know about me: I absolutely love grocery shopping. Like, it's one of my very favorite things in the whole world. I especially like going when hardly anyone's there (so, either really early or really late). Even if I do go during a peak time (say, right when people get off work), I like being able to take my time, follow my list, and smile through the chaos. And even though I really could use the self-checkout line, I never do. I love talking with the folks who are working at the register...I remember what it was like to work at Target--having crabby and mean-spirited people snap at me for no reason, or not even acknowledge my existence aside from asking who to make the check out to, or get angry at me because of a store policy that I had nothing to do with creating...and I try to bring a little bit of sunshine to that person's day (or night, depending on when I go). This grocery shopping adventure was especially wonderful because this last month has been a little challenging financially and I was down to soup and sandwiches every day. I admit, I was getting a little stressed out and sick of it, but I kept reminding myself that it's good to want and need things, and it's good to know what it's like to not have something you need. (Sidenote: I should also mention that Pasutti and one of our other friends from CSB/SJU came up for the Ingrid Michaelson concert and it was fantastic...a beautiful night for an outdoor concert enjoyed with good company!)

Friday, June 11: Went to the Farmers Market!

HOORAY! I don't think you understand how much I love the farmers market. It's probably because I was utterly spoiled with the farmers market in St. Joe (the town where my college is located)...either way, I love the farmers market here. I got a bunch of stuff--strawberries (which turned out to be terrible and sour, but oh well...there's always next week!), fresh pasta (the dude who was working gave me an extra whole wheat spaghetti for free!), rhubarb, potatoes, and kettle corn. HOORAY AGAIN!

Saturday, June 12: Had two very nice telephone conversations.

I got to talk on the phone with a couple of my friends from college (separately, of course). I like maintaining those connections back home, whether it's letters or phone calls or Skype chats or whatever...though I've readily admitted before that those aren't ideal means of communication, they still matter to me, and I still get great amounts of joy at getting a letter in my mailbox, or hearing my phone ring and seeing a Minnesota area code, or watching a little conversation box pop up on my computer. So talking to Madeline and Laura was absolutely lovely.

Okay, sorry this is a bit late (not that you really care, I'd imagine)...tonight was a crazy night of youth ministry and I didn't get back to my apartment until 10:30 or so, and I had some other stuff to catch up on too! So please forgive me.

Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!

grid project - week 2

Your weekly GP update:

Sunday, May 30: Successfully made a batch of apple-cottage cheese pancakes.
I deliberately use the word "successfully" because it is an incredibly rare occurrence for me to get pancakes right. If I have a culinary weak spot, pancakez is it, yo. I have a tendency to under/overcook them or mix the batter too much/little or only half-flip them or make any number of other stupid mistakes. So wasn't I pleasantly surprised when I pulled it off and only screwed up two of them! And they were crazy delicious, too...I feel like they'd be an awesome snack. I'd highly recommend them...and you could even put something like applesauce and cinnamon on them and they'd be delicious.


Monday, May 31: Made whole wheat French baguettes from scratch.
I think that when the Grid Project is all finished, a good percentage of my activities will have had something to do with food. And I'm perfectly okay with that. Either way, I made some baguettes and they were marvelous.  That night, I had dinner with one of my youth group families (the folks I lived with when I first moved here) and I was running late, so I literally pulled the loaves out of the oven, grabbed one, wrapped it in a towel, and brought it over to their house. There's nothing like a fresh baguette, let me tell you!


Tuesday, June 1: Traveled to a new place for small group.
I'm part of a young adult small group through another church in my area, and the people who normally host it at their house were on vacation in Florida this week, so we had it at someone else's house. And this other couple lives in a place that I've never been, so it was kind of exciting to go somewhere new. I can't wait to do some more city-exploring when the summer really kicks in--it seems that Pittsburgh is a pretty happenin' place during the summer, so I'm super stoked!


Wednesday, June 2: Skip Day (I think it's fair to have one of those every once in a while, right?)


Thursday, June 3: Caught up with a friend over Chinese food.
My mentor from college (who lives in Minnesota) just happened to be in Pittsburgh on Thursday for a conference/round table discussion thingy about lay ecclesial ministry, so I picked him up from the airport and showed him around my area a little bit before his event started...and what's a trip to the North Hills without a stop at Sesame Inn? It's seriously the best Chinese food ever (I highly recommend the orange chicken), and it's ultra classy too, haha! We got to chat for a while, which was wonderful. It's nice to talk with someone from Minnesota in person...I mean, I love talking with people on the phone and on Skype and all that, but sometimes I wish I could just squeeze through the phone and talk with people face-to-face. So it was really nice to spend some time with Jeff and talk about life and ministry and all that fun stuff.


Friday, June 4: Wrote a letter to a friend.
I know this probably seems like a cop-out because I write lots of letters...but this is one that's been on my to-do list for a while. Nothing big or dramatic, just a letter that I've been meaning to write, and I did it. Now if only I were a bit more diligent about mailing my letters in a timely fashion...


Saturday, June 5: Created my own ice cream treat at Bruster's.
I love ice cream. I also love Nerds candy. So you may know from an old post that a couple of my youth group kids work at an ice cream place called Bruster's...it's kind of the local equivalent to Dairy Queen. Anyway, because I am so freakin' awesome (haha), I walked over to a convenience store two buildings down from Bruster's (how convenient!) and bought some Nerds. I then gave them to the kid who was working at Bruster's and instructed him to make a Nerds blast (like a blizzard), which he happily did. I've had a Nerds blizzard before, but there was something about this one that was exceptionally delicious...probably because I had to put in a little work to get it.

I know I've designated Sunday as my GP update day, and I know it's technically Monday, but I just got back from a fabulous concert, which I will detail at a later point in time...for now, just know that it was really wonderful.

Love you, miss you, blah blah blah! And don't forget, if you have any GP suggestions, leave them as a comment or Facebook me or whatever...I'd love to hear your ideas of things I can do!

i strive for egg-cellence!

I made these little egg thingies...check it out! And let me know if there's a recipe you think I should make on my next "episode"...and maybe I'll give it a try!

ALSO, it might be best for you to actually watch the video on YouTube so that it's not cut off on the right hand side...and you can do that by double-clicking the video itself. The weird thing is that it's going to open a new window and start playing the video automatically in that one, but it'll also play in the blog one, so be sure to pause it so you don't have a lame echo. Cool? Cool.



Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!

dress for success!

So the cupcakes were wonderful! I ended up bringing most of them to softball practice on Thursday night, and I brought the rest to Bruster's (the ice cream place where one of my kids works) and gave a cupcake to everyone who was working there.

OH YEAH, did I mention that I'm an assistant to the outfield coach on the St. T's youth summer softball team? I know, right?! I told one of my mentors from college that I'm doing this, and he said (and this is a direct quote), "You will be an awesome softball coach. Or at least comic relief, which you do pretty well." Yup...that about sums it up. Moving on...

Today, I tried a recipe for homemade flour tortillas. They're super easy to make and super delicious! I'm really loving this foray into the world of cookin' stuff I've never cooked before! Maybe I'll try some exciting crock pot concoction next. The thing is, I have to be very calculated whenever I take the time to actually cook stuff, because there's only one of me...so whatever I make has to be easily refrigerate-able (is there a better word for that?) and/or freezable so I don't end up wasting a bunch of food and money! Because wasting food and money is LAMESAUCE to the EXTREME!

Here's the recipe for...

Flour Tortillas!

2 1/4 c flour (I used the regular all-purpose stuff, but I'd be interested in trying a wheat flour of some sort just for funzies)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt (I thought this was a bit too much, though, so maybe cut a little)

2 tsp vegetable oil

a titch over 3/4 c. hot milk

Put the milk in the microwave for 60 seconds and leave it until you need it.

Measure out all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add in vegetable oil and mix it all together a bit.

Slowly mix in the hot milk until the dough ball comes away clean. Adjust with more or less milk and/or additional flour (but not too much!).

Mix the dough for 3-4 minutes, then turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it once or twice to shape it some. [I actually overlooked that entire sentence when I made them, so I didn't mix it for a full 3-4 minutes or knead it at all...no wonder it was so sticky! Oh well...ZOOPSIES!]

Divide the dough into 12 equal balls. Roll each ball into a 6-inch circle on a lightly floured surface (I don't have a roller, though, so I just pinched them out until they were thin enough) and cook them on a griddle (or a frying pan--that's what I used and it worked just fine!), roughly 30 seconds for each side.

Voila! And there's so much you can do with these little guys! You can make open faced sandwiches or a little flatbread salad, or you can slap some peanut butter on there for a little afternoon snack! I'm going to experiment and see if it would work for a grilled cheese sandwich or even just straight-up toast. We'll see!

Coolio...well, I'm going to go be awesome now (or should I say, keep being awesome, since I'm always in a state of awesomeness...HAHA). Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!

there's a vial of world peace sitting on my bookshelf

Tonight at about 11:00, I decided that I wanted to make some chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. So...I did. The last batch actually just came out of the oven! I'm going to let them cool overnight and then whip up some peanut butter frosting in the morning...and bring a dozen to the office. Because let's be honest--there's only so much baked goodness that one person can take!

I found two spiders in my apartment today. When I find a creepy-crawly in the place where I live, I always put them outside because I can't handle the sound bugs make when you step on/squish them. Now, you may (or may not) have heard about my little run-in with the GIANT DEMON CENTIPEDE last week...honestly one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, but OH WELL! Something had to be done, so I manned up and took care of the situation...with a good bit of screaming and shuddering and jumping about. Okay, so when I went outside with the GDC last week, there was a guy coming in from his car or something...I had seen him before coming and going with his two small children (creepy like bugs...children, that is). So anyway, this dude that I don't know at all got to see firsthand how a pansy like me deals with the scary GDC situation. Well, tonight when I brought the first spider out, Random Dude was there again! He actually said to me, "Another one, huh?" and then commented on how it wasn't nearly as big as the last one. God bless him! If I knew which apartment he lives in, I would leave a cupcake at his door in the morning. But alas, like so many saints, he goes unnamed. And alas, if the ants are as big a problem throughout the whole building as I they are in my apartment, that might be terribly disastrous. Or at least very sad. Well, happy for the ants (until I crush them)...so you get the idea.

Okay, that's all for now. I'm actually really tired from all this cupcakin'...so I'm going to do my dishes and then go to bed! But before I do any of that, I would like to show you a very random video:

best. thing. EVER.

Okay, so this probably shouldn't go under a tag which includes the word "health," but it definitely has to do with food, so...whatever. But you know what? I think that the occasional happy sweet thing is a very necessary part of one's health! Thus, my very favorite recipe for...

Ultra Delicious Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!

Ingredients:
1/2 c oil
1 c sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2-3 bananas, mashed
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
mini chocolate chips (however much you want--I usually go with about half of a normal bag...and make sure they're the MINI kind! It spreads out the happiness better! I can't stress that enough--use the minis!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Beat oil and sugar in a good-sized bowl (how Minnesotan is that, "good-sized"...haha). Add eggs and bananas, beating well. Blend in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (I don't know if it makes a difference or not...but I usually do this in two steps: first, I put in 1 cup flour with the soda and the powder and stir it all in really well, and then I put in the other cup of flour and the salt and stir that in really well). Add milk and vanilla and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake for about an hour (or until a toothpick comes out clean).

***This recipe is also pretty delicious without the chocolate chips, but I wouldn't recommend leaving them out because, well, where's the fun in that? You will notice that without the chocolate chips, I downgraded it from "Ultra Delicious" to "Pretty Delicious." But don't let me influence you too much. Do what you want...

Well...enjoy! I'd love to hear some of your favorite recipes too, so leave a comment!

it's gobbledegook, i say! utter rubbish!

Ohhhhhhh goody goody gumdrops, it's bloggin' time!

First things first: the Family Potluck on Sunday was a TOTAL SUCCESS! We had about sixty people there (a handful more than I expected), and it was just wonderful to meet people's parents and siblings and whatnot. I invited Fr. Gary (our parochial vicar) to give a reflection on how to observe Lent as a family, then each family made a "Lenten Family Plan" of things to do together and ways to support each other throughout the rest of the season. After that, we had a short prayer service up in the chapel, and then everyone left. It was so awesome. I used a convection oven for the first time (lasagna, HOLLA!) and even though the edges were a bit overdone, it was pretty darn good. At least it wasn't a total disaster! And I really think people had a generally good time all around so...add this one to the list of events to look back on when I feel like quitting ministry and torching the church. (Hmm, that's the second time within a week that I have written about setting fire to a building...anyone have some matches I could borrow? I mean, uh...OH LOOK, something shiny!)

Ever watch a life-changing movie? Well...Food, Inc. is one of those life-changing movies for me, I think. As in, I'm seriously considering vegetarianism after seeing it. It's all about discovering where our food comes from and how it's affecting our culture, our health, our planet...basically every aspect of our lives. At the end, it talks about how every bite we take is a vote for what kind of world we want to live in (or something like that)...and after seeing that movie, I think I'm going to change my vote. Of course, I need to do some research so I can make sure that I get all the vitamins and everything that I need to be healthy, but I'm almost 99% sure that I'm going to stop eating meat...or at least eat significantly less of it, and commit to being more aware of where it comes from (so, being more intentional about finding local, healthy alternatives to the processed, preservative- and growth hormone-filled "food" at the grocery store). This is so funny...if my dad ever reads this, he'll probably make some comment about what a "damn hippie" I'm turning into or something like that. Good thing he's severely technologically impaired, haha...

In other news, here's another opportunity for you to send me your prayer intentions so I can pray for them when I go to Rome this upcoming week...really! I want to take you with me! Leave a comment or get a hold of me some other way, and I'll add you to my list. :)

Okay, I need to get to bed ASAP--this whole 7:15 thing is making me sleepy a lot earlier. I actually really like this little routine I've created for myself. My sleeping patterns were so random before (it just...happened that way), so it's kind of nice to have a set schedule in that respect. I have more energy, I'm more motivated, and I've found that I'm just generally happier throughout the day. But for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure it's a combo platter of a) consistent sleeping habits and b) regular conversation with the Notorious G.O.D.

Alright, hope you all are having a fabulous week...I know I am! Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!

where in the world is carmen sandiego?!

When I was leaving my apartment around noon today, I found a big, flat box perched in my doorway. Turns out my friend Ben is all about giving me art, because there was a beautiful photograph inside. Boy oh boy, do I love surprises! (Ben, if I could find a snowglobe and break it, I would totally send it to you--dangerous shards and all!--as a thank-you gift. Haha!)

I watched the first of the old Star Wars movies a couple of nights ago (for the first time EVER!), and I have to say, the Death Star is FREAKIN' HUGE! It's hard to fathom. Good thing they blew it up. Oops, I mean...spoiler alert for the three other people in the world who haven't seen it yet. My bad.

I went grocery shopping on Monday, and in addition to milk, I also stocked up on some SERIOUS frootz. We're talking a whole thinger of clementine oranges, some blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. The thing about those little clementines is that they're so delicious and small that you can eat like five of them in one sitting. It takes every ounce of self-control I have to keep from doing so. But they're very portable, which means I can stick a couple in my purse for a quick afternoon snack at the office. Hooray!

You know, I was just thinking...the other day, I was in my kitchen and I saw a stink bug on my curtain. At first I was like, "AHHH!" and then I said to myself, "I am going to calm down and come back later to deal with it." And then I forgot about it. AND THEN when I remembered it and went back to deal with it, it was gone...and I haven't seen it since. I'm afraid it's like that statistic that says how many spiders a person eats in a year while they're sleeping. Only stink bugs. UGH I freaking hate stink bugs. I bet that the devil's nightmares are full of stink bugs, that's how terrible they are.

Speaking of not knowing where things are, I have no idea where five of my Harry Potter books are. I thought I packed them, but I've unpacked everything and the only ones I have are Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets. For fruitcake's sake! I really want to do an HP reading marathon, and now my dreams have been crushed. Oh well. I'm sure they're somewhere between here and Minnesota. I hope. Otherwise, someone's going DOWN! Not sure who to blame yet, exactly, but once I find them...they're going DOWN!

Did I mention I hate stink bugs?

reader's digest

I had a really great day.

Like...really great.

I woke up early, had a very healthy breakfast (homemade granola, yogurt, and some fruit), cantored at 10:30am Mass, bought a couch, ate a late lunch (spinach salad with cottage cheese and raisins), prepared a bit for tonight's Life Night (youth group gathering), actually had the Life Night, and then went to a restaurant called Eat'n Park with three of my St. T's teens for some evenin' vittles.

YEAH, I bought a freakin' couch. It was the only one in the entire furniture store that passed the "plop test." That's basically where I would imagine coming home from work and wanting nothing more than to plop down on the couch and sit for a little while...so I would do that. I did that on every couch in the entire store--minus the leather and the recliners because, helloooo! Not interested! Some of the couches were too mushy and I would basically get sucked into them, and others were so hard that I was like, "Ugh. This is like sitting on a freakin' board!" But I finally found this one, and it even comes with pillows! So they're going to be delivering the thing on Wednesday. I sure hope it fits in my hallway...and doesn't look terrible in my living room. I'll get pictures/video up when I can.

At our well-attended Life Night tonight (25 kids!), a couple of my moms (Mary and Chris) surprised me with an ice cream cake, candles, a ridiculous hat, a little banner...the whole shebang. Of course, I had just had a piece of a different ice cream cake with my Core Team before the teens got there (leftover from when I brought it in to the office on Friday)...so what I'm saying is, I had two pieces of ice cream cake within the span of half an hour. I am happy to report that both were delicious. Good thing I ate healthy the rest of the day. SHOOT!

Since school is off tomorrow for Martin Luther King Day, a few of my teens invited me along when they went to Eat'n Park after the Life Night. It was a nice time--a great chance to just hang out with the teens and do the whole relational ministry thing for a couple of hours. It reminded me of our Perkins runs when I was in high school...good times indeed. I still remember (in high school) the funny look I got from the waitress when I ordered a chicken caesar salad bread bowl, minus the chicken, with breakfast potatoes on top instead. I'm telling you, it was the best salad EVER! But tonight, I had some cheese sticks. Yum. Again, good thing I ate healthy the rest of the day! (Well, other than the ice cream cake...but that doesn't count.)

OH, and it rained cats and dogs today. Most of the snow has melted away. I think I'm going to go write an emo poem about it. JUST KIDDING! Haha...

Cool, well...that's about all for now, I suppose. Love you, miss you, ET CETERA!

don't run with scissors, OKAY?!

Today, I went to Sam's Club and got my official business card. Here's the dangerous part: having a Sam's Club business card in my possession means that I can make purchases for the church and charge it to the card (like chips and whatnot for youth group events), but I can also make personal purchases as long as I pay for it another way (like a huge container of hot chocolate mix). So I need to be careful with how I spend my money (both the church's money and the stuff that comes out of my wallet) at Sam's Club.

(I just realized that is not an interesting thing to write about.)

When I got a ride to St. Cloud from Tibby's family on my way down to the airport in Minnesota (a couple days after Christmas), we listened to Mika's album The Boy Who Knew Too Much. Ever since then, I've been listening to it basically all the freakin' time. It just seems to get better and better with every hearing. I especially like the songs "I See You" and "Blue Eyes," but honestly, the whole album is quite a wonderful experience which I would highly recommend to the WORLD! Maybe I'll mail a copy to President Obama. He'll probably write me a thank-you card for changing his life with the power of pop. And he'll probably also send a thank-you card to Mika for writing the music, and then Mika will write me a thank-you card for exposing President Obama to his high quality tune-age, AND he'll give me a plane ticket and a VIP pass to one of his European shows and then we'll fall in love and be together forever...err, maybe that last bit wouldn't work out so well. But everything up to the VIP pass would be quite possible, I think.

I got my car back yesterday! AHHHH! It was awesome...apparently, the folks at the shop started referring to my car as "The Little One" because all the other cars getting fixed there were twice its size or something...and when I walked in the door, the lady sitting there gave me one look and said, "I bet you're looking for a little car." I was very relieved to be reunited with my baby after weeks and weeks of sadness and despair...and the inability to drive to a grocery store. Things were really looking a bit desperate there for a few days. I kept thinking to myself, "One can only survive on crackers and peanut butter for so long!" So since there's been a SUPER INTENSE snow storm ravaging the Burgh the last few days, and since I'm generally pretty good at driving in such admittedly perilous conditions, I braved the snow and ice last night and went to Giant Eagle for some super fantastic grocery shoppin' awesomeness. My fridge is full of good things like...eggs, yogurt, carrots, broccoli, cottage cheese, and MORE!

Oh, small note, but worth mentioning: one of my New Year's resolutions is to take better care of myself...so I am proud to say that I did not buy any junk food yesterday. None. Not even a little bag of chips or candy or anything. All good things--fruits and vegetables and the like. So my first trial has been successfully overcome...we'll see what happens the next time I go grocery shopping! But I'm really serious about this, so hopefully I can continue to stay away from all of my favorite things...haha! But really, living by myself, I don't have someone who will see what I'm eating and judge me (consciously or not) if it's something terrible...and sometimes that judgment is a good thing because I often adjust my behavior when I'm in the spotlight...but no one's here to do the judging...it's like when you know company is coming over so you clean your house. Okay, now I'm just rambling.

But on a serious note, I'm going to be doing more legit cooking from here on out, so if I find any delicious recipes, I will be certain to post them here!

That's really all for now. I'm going skiing up in the mountains tomorrow with the Campbells. I don't remember the last time I went skiing...so this will be an adventure. Pleeeease God, don't let me break my leg!

OH and I won't be back until Sunday afternoon, so the next time I post anything will be after the kick-off...meaning that I may or may not have a different hair color. AHHHHHH!!!