Classy Bitches Night

So, I may only have a job for a week, but I believe that if you give you will receive in kind.

So I decided to treat Andrew and I to a "Classy Bitches Night". That means Red Barron personal pizzas, sherry, and Perrier.

So as the night goes on, I'm going to report pictures and quotes.

Our supplies and yes, that's the scene where Baby gives the whore money for an abortion. Classy Bitches!

Andrew: "Woah! We need to let that breathe." Me: "It's sherry, I don't think it breathes."
Me: "It tastes like prunes."

Andrew: "We're going to need to do shots of this."

Me: "My boobs are really perky for how big they are. I mean, if they were any higher :: tries to lift them from the top:: they'd be like fake boobage."

Me: "If you want the hot sexy Red Baron to come and fuck you, you have to eat it with your hands! Now do you want to be a Classy Bitch or not?"

Opening game!

So, I am a HUGE buckeye fan. And when I say "buckeye" I mean football. I LOVE buckeye football. The pregame makes me cry. I watch stats and interviews. I think of the ways we can win the season.

This is the first game of my "new life". September 1st.  New coach. I'm beyond ecstatic.

Before the game, we buy chicken nibblers, brown sugar, baking soda, brown sugar, eggs, and Reese's miniatures. I didn't take any pictures but quarter the cups make the classic chocolate chip dough and add them in. Buckeye Chip Cookies!!

They are delicious, and I'm stuffed. :D

Happy first game!

We won!! 56-10!

Temp Job!

I got a job! For a week! Woo!! It's for tomorrow and then next Tuesday through Friday because of Labor Day. I'm very excited because the entire paycheck is going to go towards next month's rent and will cover most of my rent save $25.

Everything adds up. I've been frugal with my spending and though it's only been a week, this will definitely help. I also have a paycheck coming tomorrow from Safelite and then I have my bonus check that will be coming next week or the week after.

I just have to keep my fingers crossed.

An Apple a Day... part 1

I apologize for the lack of personal updates going on in my life. When you are unemployed there isn't much to do. Granted I can gloat about Alex having a shotgun wedding (which did make me very happy), but I blasted that all over Facebook. I could go over the rundown of what happened between us, but I'm just not ready to go through it again. So, with the unemployment I have to find things that occupy my time. The biggest thing that I enjoy is cooking. My roommate, Jon, thinks I'm awesome at this and I kind of am lol but it does bring me joy.

Do I do any other kinds of crafts? Sure! I sew and I crochet (which I haven't done in a long time), but I don't want to just sit around and give myself carpel tunnel and I don't have the money to sew. I do have a dress that I have all of the fabric for already. It's a Renascence costume. When my room gets organized and clean I'll pull that out and work on it.

I do have a dress that I need to make for the end of September and if I can find some extra money or good fabric at the thrift store (bed sheets totally rock) then I'll post that up. But generally, it'll be food.

Like today!

So I got my Co-Op produce. More tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, and lettuce. But this time I also got strawberries (they are very tiny - like baby strawberries) and chilis! I don't know what I'm going to do with those, but I'm pretty excited because I guess they are pretty hot.

Last week, I got a whole bunch of apples. ...and I keep forgetting to eat them. I have some standard recipes that I like to make with apples, like applesauce. It's so much easier, healthier, and cheaper to make applesauce than buy it. If they give me more then I may make it. But since I have so many apples, I decided to an apple series. I don't know how long it will go. Three maybe four depending on how many apples I have.

I had gotten the idea of an apple turnover from a woman in the grocery store and I thought that I would try it. This recipe is all over the internet, so if you just search crescent apple turnover you will find a version. This is MY version. Now some people may say "there is an easier way to do this" (Shut up Justin this is MY blog), but to me, this is the BEST way. ...or this is the first time I am doing this and I'm just going with it. XD

I am doing a twist on my apple pie recipe with this and I did find this glaze from another website that I thought if I put them together would go well.

Recipe:
2 Cans Crescent Rolls (May take 3 depending on how much filling you make)

Filling:
2C apples chopped
1/3C sugar (the sauce is really sweet)
2 Tbsp Flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Sauce:
1/2 C Butter, softened (1 stick)
1 C Sugar
1 Can of Mountain Dew (I used the real sugar kind because HFCS? EWWWWW)

Core and chop the apples and add all ingredients together in a bowl. I know when you go looking at apple recipes it tells you to peel them. But really? That's where all the fiber and good stuff is. Go ahead and leave it on. What is it going to do? If you use a red/pink apple just turn the filling a little pink. That adds character!

Roll out the crescent rolls. Now, you can cut these in half to make small ones if you want or you can leave them big. It's up to you. For my recipe I cut them in half and then stretch them out slightly.

Fill the crescent rolls. You have to be careful because you can overfill these and that's not good. Make sure there is at least a half an inch on either side. If you're not sure, start with a small amount of filling and just fold over without pressing to gauge how much is enough.

How I fold them is quite simple. Once you fill them, you fold one corner to the middle of the opposite side. Repeat and then fold the top down like an envelope. You may have a hole on the bottom, you can pinch that closed.

Place in a greased 9x13 in pan (I used a turkey pan because I made a lot of little ones)


For the sauce you heat the stick of butter in a pan and add the sugar. Don't make it smooth.

Spoon into the pan with the turnovers, pour in the Mountain Dew, and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake in the oven at 350* for 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy! I know I did. :D

Tomato Tomahto

So before I lost my job, I took the plunge and bought into a CSA. You know, co-ops (for some reason Justin calls them 'Farm Fresh'. That name makes me cringe) where you help fund a farm and they give you produce for it. Well I got quite a few nice pieces of produce: corn, tomatoes, yellow and purple cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, lettuce. Well, I thought that since I have this produce I'm going to find some easy recipes to make with them. I've got two recipes and both are not mine. I like to give credit where credit is due. The first one, is my corn on the cob recipe. I got it from the food network, though I can't remember which chef...

You'll never want to make corn on the cob another way again.
Step 1.) Preheat oven to 350*
Step 2.) Take off the very outer husk leaving some on
Step 3.) Place in oven
Step 4.) Bake for 30-45 minutes. I have a gas stove so the cooking time depends on the temperature outside.
Step 5.) Enjoy! Simple right?



You will know they are done when the husks open like you see in the picture to your left. So if you forget to set the timer that's the easiest way to tell.






Okay so the second recipe that I'm going to show you is quite simple as well. You can find the original recipe here. I am not a fan of tomatoes, but after the roasted bruschetta that I made with the fresh cherry tomatoes that I got? I think I'm starting to like tomatoes more.

Tomato and Sweet Onion Bake
Your ingredients are:
Olive Oil
2lbs of Tomatoes
1lbs of Onion
3 cloves Garlic* (ProTip at the bottom)
1/3 C Fresh Basil
3 Tbsp Fresh Oregano
Salt and Pepper
Dried artisan bread

1/4C Butter

1/2C Parmesan cheese

Since I am unemployed, I needed to work with what I had so this was my recipe:
Olive Oil
5 Tomatoes
2 Onions
3 cloves Garlic* (ProTip at the bottom)
5 tsp Basil
3 tsp Oregano
Salt and Pepper
Remember the top of my french bread? Yep used that!
1/4 C Butter
1/2 C Parmesan cheese

Your steps are:
1.) Heat oil in a skillet and preheat oven to 350*
2.) Slice onion so they are rings and chop garlic
3.) Saute garlic and onion
4.) While sauteing slice tomatoes




5.) Put tomatoes, herbs, and salt and pepper in a bowl and mix around
6.) In a 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish put in sauteed onions and garlic evenly
7.) Place tomatoes over onions




8.) Put bread, cheese, and butter in a food processor and pulse until crumbly

9.) Put over tomatoes
10.) Bake for 20-25 minutes.
11.) Let stand for five and serve warm!








Omg, this was SO GOOD! I would TOTALLY eat tomatoes like this all the time. I don't know what it was. It was just...amazing. So simple. Fresh foods, ingredients that everyone has (unlike what Rachel Ray says people have in their kitchen) and you just bake it.

Let me know if you try this and how it came out for you! Because this is something I could seriously eat everyday.





ProTip: You don't need some garlic masher to mash or chop garlic. It's really quite simple.

Shell the garlic











Place the flat end of the knife over the garlic and with your fist slam down onto the knife. Since it's flat, it won't cut you. (But I am not responsible for your clumsiness)

And then, just go over it like you would chop anything else!

This is Matthew Vines. He has a sermon you need to watch. It's long. And 250,000 other people have already watched it (that's how good it is.) But I can't begin to tell you how important his ideas are.

At 9:05, he pulls at the heartstrings of anyone who has them. At 24:12, he demolishes all arguments based on Leviticus, and he explains something you'll never forget about Old Testament "abominations" at 29:12. At 35:37, he unpacks the thorniest New Testament passage, burying the "unnatural" argument once and for all at 47:06. 

At 58:48, he makes one of the most effective Bible-based arguments for gay marriage you'll ever hear. And at 1:03:32, he closes with a plea for acceptance that's been melting the hearts even of dyed-in-the-wool Southern Baptists. 

Bread!

Normally, I go up to Cleveland every other weekend. I go up to game. There are two games in Cleveland but due to my work schedule, unless I called off, requested off, or got someone to take my shift, I couldn't go to the Saturday game. Normally I would go up Saturday night and stay with Justin and hang out with a bunch of my friends at his place and we named the party "Afterdrank". Why "Afterdrank"? Because it's after the Saturday game and we drink. Why don't we call it "Afterdrink"? Because that sounds stupid of course!

Anyway. I don't normally bake on this weekend because I would have to think of something, like cookies, to make Saturday night that I would remember to bring up on Sunday morning. I've done that. Bring baked goods before. But because I generally travel after work to get up to Afterdrank, there just isn't any time.

Well, my character is in "time stop" that's where no one is allowed to interact with anyone else in the org until the scene is resolved. It was a mass combat (think a raid in WoW) and so now we have to deal with it.

Well, Justin hasn't been hosting Afterdrank because it's been "too hot" (pussies) and well I don't have a character to play up there - due to the time stop. So, I decided to what I do best to pass the time and that's make bread! Woo! I went shopping on Saturday for some basic stuff, that will last me a while and be pretty filling. My days are going to be filled with drinking water and carbs. My sister will hate it, but carbs are WAY cheaper than protein is - animal protein at least. Looks like I'll be looking at tofu recipes!

So anyway. One of the things that I don't normally buy, but can be handy for things, like casseroles, is bread.  I can also make sandwiches out of them. I also have a lot of ingredients to make bread as it is, and it's incredibly cheap.

I have a bread maker. It's awesome. I haven't used it since I moved into my place three years ago. So I decided to crack it out. And since I have nothing to do during the day, I thought I might do some blog posts about bread and all the different flavors that I will make.

All the recipes will be for a bread machine and so please, read your owner manual before following mine to make sure that the measurements are correct.

Here is the recipe:
3C Flour (they say bread flour I use all-purpose)
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Shortening
1 1/5 C Water
2 tsp Yeast*




I'm making a French bread. I don't like just plain white bread, and I'm an "artisinal" person myself. This is also a really simple recipe to just begin with. Most recipes will have this as the backbone.

Now, you add all the dry ingredients together. and you slowly pour in the water.

Make sure you press the right setting. There might also be a "Darkness" setting for your bread. I always choose the "darkest" on mine because it gets the crispier crust. You'll need to experiment when it comes to this.

Now, press start! And just leave it. Don't open your bread maker because that will just ruin things. Some recipes will call you to take out the bread after a certain time. If that is the case then please press "stop" or "off" or "clear". It's amazing what people just assume technology does.


So, lets discuss yeast! The yeast that I used was a "Fast Acting" yeast which means it's already been set up. My original recipe called for two more tablespoons of water, but this can be omitted when using this type of yeast. Also, if you are going to use this type of yeast instead of a "Dry yeast" then you'll need to subtract 25% of the yeast amount. The original called for 2 1/2 which would have left me with 1 7/8 tsp. Uh? What? No. I rounded up.


ProTip: Did you know that there are three teaspoons in a tablespoon? I know! So instead of using two measuring spoons, if you've got one of those 1/2 tablespoons laying around use that. It's awesome!

***Four Hours Later***

When your bread is done, it should look something like this:

However, remember when I said that I rounded up? Yeah... I should have rounded down. Like way down. To like 1 1/2 tsp. Because THIS is what happened.

It's okay! It's fixable. I simply cut off the top, turned the oven to 350 and popped it in for a few minutes. Get the top all nice and crunchy and we're ready to go! Bread really is one of the easiest things to make.

Does anyone remember the old Sesame Street or Square One bit where the chef makes a popover but instead of a teaspoon he uses a tablespoon and the thing comes out giant? Yeah. that's what this reminds me of.

Have any questions or tips you want to give me? Just reply and I'll do the best I can to answer!

They got married.

And NO ONE thought to tell me.

Day 3 of Unemployment: Saturday off

Wow. I have a Saturday off. A Saturday to do whatever I wanted! It's a little crazy. I haven't had a Saturday off for over three years. Three years! Not without calling, requesting, or switching off for it. Basically jumping through hoops.

It was weird. It felt weird. It felt like Sunday!

Now, I thought about going to church, and I almost did. But I just enjoyed the day too well. I made bread (which you'll see in my post tomorrow), and I went to the mall with Jon.

The mall was fun. I forgot how much walking was involved though. I just spent three years sitting on my ass, I'm not used to this walking bullshit. We stopped at Teavana. Got some mint tea. I'm excited for it, their tea is good. I also picked up an application. I'm trying to decide if I want to turn the application in there, or apply online. Online would be so much easier. But maybe meeting face to face would good.

Here's the problem. If I get a part-time job, I wouldn't be able to get unemployment. And though unemployment isn't that great (50% of what I made I hear) it's still getting paid while I look for what I want. Essentially two and a half weeks would get me my rent and bills. Also, I would make more off of unemployment than I would working part-time. How crazy is that?!

So after the mall, Jon and I went to Barnes & Noble. I like B&N, it's a nice bookstore. Everything was going fine until they couldn't find my B&N card information. I bought the discount card last year and then this past July was forced to renew it. It was an automatic renewal I had no choice and I didn't have the ability to refund it. So no one can find my information. Not the cafe, not customer service, not even the manager. So the manager calls the online number and the girl...She was a girl. So unhelpful. Like her voice alone made me want to strangle her. She sounded like she was 14! Is that a new thing in customer service? To make women sound like children so they aren't as intimidating? Because I would rather talk to someone who knew what they were doing.

So, the store is awesome, the people on the phone, not so much. Here's the cool thing about the story. As the manager is helping me, there are phones ringing off the hook. I make some comment like "Sounds like you could use some help. Are you hiring?" and she goes "Actually we are." When my conversation is done I ask for the application and go to the cafe, buy a key lime tart and the book I just wanted to skim through, and fill out the application. When she handed it to me, she said just bring it back and ask for her and she'd come up. So I did, she did, and we had a little chat and on Monday they are going to discuss who they are going to interview. I'm not getting my hopes up, but it's a good sign.

Then we came home. And...my bread. Oh lordy. But it was okay. Just needed a little tweak and everything was fine! You'll get to see the recipe tomorrow.

Day 1 of Unemployment: Scams and Porn

I am a little bit of a control freak. I have had a steady job for over three years now, that I don't know how to look for a job. One can say "Seriously?" and my response is "Seriously." The job market has changed, and before my job at Safelite, I really hadn't looked for a job in years. The job I had before Safelite was working in an athletic club that I got because Andrew worked there. Before that I was a color guard coach, which Andrew got me that job too. Before that I worked at retail places; Dakota Watch, Naturalizer, and Godiva. I got Dakota Watch because of a friend, Naturalizer I just filled out an application for a second job and then Godiva because pretty much the same reason.

I haven't done a "classic" job search in seven years! The way people search for jobs is different. Most online job websites are filled with scams or people playing ads wherever. Looking in Columbus? Don't be surprised if you find a job listing for Houston. Seriously. I keep looking on Chase and Houston keeps popping up.

Also, what is it with all of these sites requiring logins? You're only going to use it once! It's not a login for when you get hired to that company. It's just erroneous information flooding the system. I guess there are a couple that are okay, like indeed.com but who knows?

Well, I went on Craigslist last night just to see who actually posts there. To me, craigslist is so 2004 but whatever. At 1:30 this morning I get an e-mail in response to a resume I sent. My half-sleep brain was like "Awesome!" and then I get up this morning because I can't sleep and fill out the "application". The application then sends me to a background check site where on the previous page I was told it would be free, now I am being asked to pay $20. SCAM! I couldn't believe it. I wasn't crushed just...disgusted.

So, Porn. There was an ad on Craigslist for this "Adult Shoot". I sent my stuff in as a lark, and they responded! It made me laugh to see they responded. So I e-mailed them back asking for more information. There will definitely be some nudity and I don't have to do the "office theme" if I don't want to. There are of course, other casting options but for less pay, but all involve nudity. Is anyone else laughing? Because I can't stop.

They of course asked for my age, height/weight, measurements, dress/shoe size, and whether I have any experience in adult work and why I want to do it. Also, could I send some more pictures?

Here's the thing, I think this is actually legit. But I don't want to be on screen, I want to be behind screen. I'll work in porn if it's behind the scenes. I can shoot camera, edit video, I was a production assistant for five months. But on camera? No. I've been known to take some "sexy" pictures of myself, but that's for myself.

So right now I'm deciding on whether to tell him I wanted to do only production and not on camera work...Yeah I'll just come clean. I've been out of work one day! I'm not that desperate that I'll become a porn star. I think I should point out that I have nothing against adult "performers" (they are NOT actors, Justin!) they are people who have found a way to get paid for what people give away for free. But, I'm trying to find a television reporter job, and if they found out I did porn...? I can kiss my career and family good-bye.

I said I was going to take a week or two for just me to get my head on straight before buckling down on my search. But I don't know if I can wait that long. I have this feeling like something is going to happen really soon. Not that excited anticipation feeling just... I'm looking at a curtain wanting to know what's behind it, but I don't have the means to pull it open. It's just kind of...there.

No More Indian Food Thursdays...

So I was going to write a blog post about Indian food and my love for it and how I want to start making it. But, after my delicious Indian food that I get every Thursday, I was fired.

I'm actually relieved about it. It felt like it was the last piece of my life from before. I have been trying to shed it for a while, but it was a steady paycheck. And I was hoping to find something before I left so that it wouldn't be a break in pay.

I have a savings, not a lot, but enough to cover rent and bills for a few months. I have filed for unemployment. I don't think it will be approved so I'm ready to appeal. I have been "hired" at a temp agency and they have submitted me for two positions, but they only place 25% of candidates.

I don't even know where or how to look for a job anymore. People have given me some seasonal locations and maybe I could do retail but retail doesn't like to give full-time or benefits and the schedule would always change. The good thing about that would be that the money would be bill and spending money while I lived off my savings for rent until my lease was up.

I think I'm just going to take a week or two for myself and just chill. Go to the shelter and volunteer like I haven't been doing *sheepish*, not buy any food except for some $1 frozen dinners, and go up to Cleveland every other week.

Maybe my room will get clean now.

I'm Going to Make a Mechanic Out of You Yet

So after I posted such an uplifting post for all of you that hate Mondays, like I do, I had a bad rest of the day. I got what is known as an "All-Inclusive Final Written Warning" on my record. Which means, that if I do anything that incurs an "infraction" which is a corrective action, then I can and almost positively be terminated.

So, I know when all of my "infractions" are going to come off that have resulted in this "All-inclusive" one. One of the ones is tardiness. All of my tardies are going to come off by the end of the year. So, when I go out to my car today to get to work on time, guess what I find. My battery dead. D-E-D dead.

This is exactly what I need, not 24 hours after I get issued this "all-inclusive" tardy. I sent my job coach an e-mail telling him I would be late. And I had until 11am, to get to work or I would be counted as off completely and I really can't have that. I am at six tardies which means I'm on a "verbal". At seven, I go to a "written", and at eight I go to a "final written". Hopefully, with all of the tardies that are supposed to be rolling off within the next two months they won't fire me. If I were to come in after 11 or take off the day completely, then I would be fired because I'm at eight occurrences.

Now, I'm sitting in my car, trying not to panic. My first thought was, my battery was dead except for my lights and electronics were working. So, maybe some how, my key got unprogrammed. I call my grandfather, he comes as soon as possible, with the extra key. When he gets there, the key doesn't work and when he tries to turn the engine on, he goes "yep it's the battery".

We try for 20 minutes to jump it, and it's just gone. So, he drives me to Advanced Auto Parts to buy a battery that we take back to my car. Sure they'll install it for free, but we don't have time for the truck to get back from the delivery. Because I can't call off work, but if I'm late, I might not lose my job. To top it all off, my grandfather has pulled something in his back so he is in excruciating pain. He's confused himself because he told me to program a key but I do not have a second key to program (he has it), and the information he's going off on was from when I had my mustang and not the Taurus.

So, we get the battery and take it back to my car. Then, I install the battery myself. It's really not that hard to install a battery. You simply, unscrew the lines, take off the cover, unscrew the back take out the battery, put the new battery in and reverse what you just did. Voila! Installed battery. If I had time, I would have turned this into a tutorial but time was not on my side.

I must mention now, that while we're doing this though, my grandfather says "I'm going to make a mechanic out of you yet." Hence the title of the post.

I can only sigh, because it's apparent he's forgotten that he's taught me all this stuff on how to be a mechanic. Now, am I a mechanic, compared to him? No. But I can change my tires, battery, oil, air filter, etc. That's more than most people can do.

Anyway, I get the battery installed and thankfully the car starts. For some reason now, there is no "battery dying" process, the battery just goes. Not fun. If it wasn't the battery, it would have been the starter and that I don't know how to change.

Now, I sit and I wait. Because when I get that corrective action, that could be my last day... I need a drink.

Hello! I'm Here to Make Your Monday Suck Less

This is courtesy of my friend Justin because I hate Mondays. With a burning fiery passion. I really really do. I know everyone hates them, but Monday means that I don't get a day off after game and that I don't get to do my job.

I work at Safelite AutoGlass (yes I know the jingle) and I work in a department that takes online orders. I get to deal with a lot of special cases. But Monday's mean that we were under staffed on Sunday, and so calls get backed up and we have to call people and have them get mad at us. But on top of that, we get inbound calls of regular sales. It's a fight with management to be able to get our work done. Because even though we are taking in-bound calls back to back, we are still held accountable for those calls in our out-bound queue.

So I look at this picture and it makes me smile because a.) it's a puppy and I LOVE puppies, and b.) It reminds me that I have friends that care about me. For instance I've been talking to Fuzzy all morning about relationship stuff and the intricacies of his relationships and about how I am no longer adverse to fellatio as I once was. ...that will be another post.

So what happened this weekend? I found a YouTube channel that was all about t-shirt recon and I have her in my reading list. She had a tutorial on how to do a scoop neck, off the shoulder number, and it was HOT! I have pictures. This is the only picture I could find of when I made it. Not the best, but I'm pretty proud of it.

I went to game yesterday, and it was long. It was a mass combat that was run pretty smoothly, it was just long and took a lot out of me. My character had a successful Rite of Accomplishment (that means she gets to challenge for a promotion basically) after a disastrous one a month and a half ago. My friend Bonnie's character was the one who did it. She was supposed to do it before but her character got sick and so an Elder did it...yeah it's boring game stuff.

The cool part is, that Bonnie's character, Chione, and mine, Julia, have had quite a trip the past year. They went from opposing sides to the best of friends. They have really grown together and it has been amazing to play out. But, Bonnie, during her speech for the RoA got choked up because of the weight of everything and that she was telling all that had happened for the past year. It's that type of thing, during game that I really enjoy. Getting into that headspace and just having a moment. 

As players, we put a lot of thought and effort into our characters and the story that we are telling. There are two types of RPers (Role Players): The kind that stick to their story and don't let anything affect them or change them and the kind that allow their players to change as things go along. There are pros and cons to both and so the goal is to be a little bit of both sides. If you constantly change then your character doesn't really have an identity and if you stay rigid then you don't get to let yourself explore. Anyway. As Bonnie said she saw Julia grow up and it was a very proud moment for Chione because she got to see how she affected the world around her. It was also really cool, because Bonnie and I have become closer this past year as well. Thinking about it myself, I am getting a little teary-eyed.

Happy stuff! I got to see my friend Andrew. He had been teaching drum corps for the summer and I saw him when he got back, but this was the first time he came to game. Andrew and I have known each other for like 17 years. Long time. We haven't been friends for that long, but for most of it. And there was a moment when I wanted to share something with him and I didn't even have to say anything, he just knew and we started to laugh. We said maybe five words in that conversation. To know someone like that, is awesome.

So, if your Monday is sucking? Think of the weekend and reminisce about the good times you had. It helps make the day go by faster.

The 80's Called. They Want Their Snack Food Back.

So every other Saturday night (Or Sunday morning), I make/bake something to take to game. (Every week I pretend to be a werewolf or a "kin" the non-werewolf members of the world. I'll explain later.) Generally it's baked goods. Cookies, cakes, pies, etc. I use it as a way to explore new ways of baking and my understanding of food. For isntance, if it's going to be 90* outside with a heat index of 105* you may want to put the blueberry pie in the freezer because any setting it may have done will be undone.

Last week, I made chex-mix. It owned. Completely and utterly. It owned because I made it the real way. Not with a microwave, but in the oven. It made my house almost unbearably hot but the results were worth it. I remember my mother in the wintertime making batches of these for...whatever and they were loaded with Worcestershire sauce and seasoned salt. You seasoned it each time you mixed the concoction on the cookie sheets.

Now, before I make anything, I like to research it. How easy is it, what are main themes within it, and how can I make it my own. What I discovered with this amazing world of technology is how practices that our parents and grandparents utilized are buried within the ideas that a company advertizes. I mean, I had to search various keywords to find the correct temperature for my oven for the chex-mix recipe. All because General Mills has decided that their way is the only way. I'm pretty sure that "their way" used to be with an oven at one point.

Most of my cooking is influenced by my mother and my grandmother. As is most people on this planet. And so, after making your mouth water for chex-mix, I will show you how I made "lil smokies"! Again, this is a recipe that I had to search for that wasn't influenced by corporate ingredients. It's quite easy and I put my own spin on it. (This is also my first attempt at including pictures)

First, you get a crock pot.





Second, you have your ingredients.







Third, you follow the recipe, which is as follows

1 14oz pack of little beef sausages (Store brands are just as good as "name" brands)
1C Ketchup
1C Bar-b-q Sauce
1C Brown Sugar

The sauces can be tailored to your tastes. For this batch I am using Honey Hickory Smoke BBQ sauce and Sweet Baby Ray's Vadalia Onion BBQ sauce. I recommend using 1 cup for the sauces as a guideline because that's a lot of sauce.

My final conversion was
3 14oz beef sausages
1C Ketchup
1C Honey Hickory Smoke BBQ Sauce
1C Sweet Vidalia Onion BBQ Sauce
1C Brown Sugar




As you can see, I am 2 cups short on ketchup and brown sugar and a cup short on BBQ sauce. I like sauce mind you. But I don't want my stuff drenched in it. And sauce is supposed to enhance flavors or add a small twist. Also, my crockpot isn't that big and I need to feed a lot of people.



Fourth, put all the ingredients in a crock pot and mix together. Pro Tip: Put in only some of the smokies (I used two packs) then put in the sauces and mix and then put the rest of the smokies in and stir again.





Fifth, turn it to low










Sixth, wait two hours and DON'T open it! Not even to stir!

My mom always said that if you open a crock pot before the dish is done cooking, you add a half an hour to the cooking time. I don't know if that's true or not... I have seen some other people say that too but it might have been a way to try and get us to NOT open it. The old "If you eat it now, you won't get any later" type of a deal.




And that's it! Pretty simple, huh? This took me, no joke, FIVE MINUTES to do. My alarm went off at 9am, I snoozed until 9:10, got down at 9:13, and put everything together. Including the pictures!

Now the dish will be done just before 11:30 and that's when I have to leave... so I get to transport it and hook it back up! But with crock pot dishes I think it's always a good idea to have it cooked fully or mostly before transport because then when you hook it up it's just a matter of keeping everything warm.

For those of you who are wanting the chex mix recipe here's what I do. Follow the recipe but turn the oven to 250, melt butter in a roasting pan, have several bowls (depending on how many batches you are going to make) mix in the butter, then sprinkle liberally with the onion and garlic powder, seasoned salt, and Worcestershire sauce. Lay out on a cookie sheet, sprinkle salt and sauce again, and bake for one hour. Every 15-20 minutes stir the mix and sprinkle more seasoned salt and worcestershire sauce. Of course you don't have to keep loading it up with sodium, but that's how my mom made it and that's how I'm going to make it. :)

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

I am pretty private about my religion and worship practices. I am a Christian but I will forever seek Truth. I have a lot of discussions with my friend Justin in regards to Jesus and Christianity in general. So when I told him that I was going to just to hear the Word preached? He responded with "I love this concept."

My friend, Jennilee - over at steamysewing.blogger.com, invited me to her church once and I thought I would come back. Ironically, I went when Lindsey and I were fighting and I wanted to cut her out of my life.
I don't go to church each week. I could, if I really wanted to, but I don't. It's not a requirement of the faith and as I said, I am a private person when it comes to it.

I am blogging about it now because when I decide to go to a service, it is because God has a message that I need to hear. This time is no exception. I went to the church's website to see what the sermon would be and it is entitled "Ain't No Mountain high Enough - Connecting and growing in relationship with the people God misses most."

The sermon did not disappoint. It was a typical Saturday night sermon. It started with modern Christian music, and I found myself crying by the second song. My heart has been so heavy. I could just feel it. I felt it and I immediately asked God to take it from me. To help me let go. The sermon was about bringing those not of God to him and what we would sacrifice to do so.

My personal belief is not to force someone into a religion they don't want to be a part of. But for myself, I know I am not doing enough to walk his path. The part of the sermon I liked best was when the pastor acknowledged Christ's law was the law of love. That this wasn't trying to get people to put another notch in their God belt (Justin and I discuss people and their need to accrue "God Credit").

But most importantly, I have to look within myself and ask what am I willing to sacrifice?

There was food afterwards, tacos. I sat by myself, reflecting about what I had heard and continued writing on this post. Then a few people came and sat with me and they brought up shop and I had a good conversation. It wasn't until the end that I was asked why I came. I explained it simply and they said they were glad I came. Overall, it was a pleasant experience.

It's Over

This is going to be all over the place, just warning you.

It's over. "Sasha" and I are over. It's been over for a while now, actually. We temporarily separated the week before Thanksgiving of 2011, he moved into the extra bedroom even. At the end of Feburary he ended it for good. We promised we would be amicable through the end of the lease and it was going alright... save a very awkward and drunken on my part New Years eve party.

Three weeks later, while logging onto my computer and gmail I saw he had left himself logged in (I let him get on my laptop because his computer was broken). I had had a suspicion for a while that he was going to move on a lot faster than I would and sure enough while searching his gmail...GASP I invaded privacy! Whatever, I'm not sorry nor will I ever be. I discovered he had been having an affair for almost two years at that point. I called him, screaming and crying, and he didn't come home after that.

I kept names secret because I wasn't sure about the subject matter and I didn't know what I wanted to let fully on the web. Here I will give you the names of the people involved in my posts.

Sasha = Alex Rushing
Tart = Jess
Zi = Lindsey Gallucci
Fargo = Luke

I think those are the only people I mentioned by name in my blog. Oh yeah, my name is Lea.

I won't be deleting my past posts because they reveal a lot of who I was and what I was really going through.

Who knows if I will continue with this blog and for how long but I know for the past few months there have been new players that have entered the arena that are helping me grow and be better people. Some are from my past that I have been reintroduced to and others are brand new to my life.

I have taken up sewing again. Not just costumes but actual clothes. (I am currently just focusing on dresses because though I want to venture into tops, pants, and skirts I'm not ready to go over that hurdle just yet.) I have a new roommate (he's a baby! 21!), I am volunteering at a local pet shelter walking dogs, I have been baking every other week solidly for a year now, I still work at Safelite, I'm kind of working towards moving to Florida, and I really just want to discover my own identity. I realized that I was co-dependent with Alex (Sasha) and that my entire identity revolved around him. I'm trying to rediscover who I am and what I want to do.

Yeah...talk to you in like a year.