Soaking up some sun.

Today it was such a beautiful day I decided to take advantage of one of the school's grassy spaces and soak up some rays while I did my homework. It was so nice to feel the warm sun on my face and hear the chattering of spring-happy college students. I plan on doing this as much as possible until school is out.

I started a new workout program this morning! If you haven't heard of it already, it is called Insanity and it is by the same people who produce P90X, and I have to say that it kicked my butt! There were a few parts that I had to modify because I'm just not there yet, but where would I go if I could do all of them, right? It's a 60 day program so I look forward to tracking my progress over the following weeks!

Suck it up and Move ...er...in?

I found out a few days ago that my semester in Spain is a no-go. Bummer, right? I was pretty devastated when my advisor told me. I'm pretty sure he wanted to take back what he said once he saw the anger in my eyes. I mean it's not like I was told this wasn't a for sure thing... Anyway, after giving myself some time to mope, I'm moving on and preparing for my fall here at school; not expected, but excepted. At least this is the worst of my current worries. It could be way worse.
My first move in preparing for the fall was to make my schedule (which is a pretty good one!), and the second was even bigger! I've found somewhere to live! I have looked at 12 places total, and today I finally settled on somewhere. A friend and I went by and checked out some apartments, and thankfully there was one that matched everything I needed. I'm very pleased with the ray of sunshine that has broken up my cloud of despair.

Oh and a side note... I went and saw the Hunger Games this weekend! It was amazing and everything I expected. I have to say I was a total wreck while watching it. For some reason (even the book did this) the story was quite emotional for me. Who knew an action movie would do this to me? I'm not usually one to be a crier in movies. I guess it just shows how well done it was. I thought all the actors were impeccable, as was the costuming and scripting. Loved it!

Louisiana = Great friends, Great food & Great movies

I have had a great past few days! I went to go see my good friends Laura and Caleb in Ruston. I had so much fun hanging out with them and meeting their roommates. We did lots of cooking, hanging out and movie watching.




Laura and Caleb have been working on perfecting their salsa recipe, and I have to say that it is quite yummy. I could not stop eating it! This particular batch they made was very spicy. It was funny to watch each other try to eat it.

The first night I was there we all went out with Laura's roommates and got some burgers. This was one of the best burgers I have EVER had. We also got Johnny's Pizza yesterday!

After we ate, we decided to continue the tradition that Laura and I began this time a few years ago. She and I really like the "Eye" movie series. Now you might be saying, "Isn't there only one of those movies?" and you are kind of right, but before they came out with the American version, there was a Chinese version, and Laura and I found it one day on the TV our junior year. We've watched the first one a couple of times, and this time we got together we finally got to see the other two! They were pretty freaky. I suggest you check them out.

We also went to go see 21 Jump Street! It was hilarious. I'm pretty sure all four of us (Laura, Caleb, Elizabeth, and I) were laughing the whole time.

We did lots of cooking yesterday too! For dinner we made shrimp, green beans, rice, and asparagus. Yum! Then for dessert we made giant peanut butter cookies with ice cream (which went well with the scary movies).

Finally, before I headed out to come home, Laura and I went and got breakfast at one of the local cafes. I had so much fun on this trip! We always have a great time cooking up a storm and just hanging out. I can't wait until the next time we do something!

Challah! I've been cooking up a storm.

Cooking is something that I really enjoy, and one of the reasons I really like coming home on breaks is that I can take some time to wind down in the kitchen. I started trying to work through my Pinterest food board, and I am finding it kind of interesting. Yesterday I made mozzarella sticks and today I made challah bread and raspberry butter. Yum!!

 The mozzarella sticks were very good. They were very simple to make. All that was needed were mozzarella singles (the one's you buy for lunch snacks) and wonton wrap sheets. It took me a few stops to find the wonton wrappers, but I finally found them in the organic section in Kroger. There were very few steps: cut in half, wrap, fry. I'm pretty sure they would taste good baked, too, if you are feeling healthy!

Today I was up for a bit of a bigger challenge. I made my favorite bread, challah! I have never made bread for now, and I did not know it would be an all-day process. It was worth it though. I made it over at my grandmother's house because we were also visiting with my aunt and cousin, so I got a little help from Mimi. You should've seen us trying to help each other knead that doe...quite entertaining.  

This first picture is after I had left the doe to rise the second time (1.5 hours the first time, stop and braid, 45 minutes the second time), before I painted it with butter. By this time we were all counting down with the timer how long it would be before we could chow down.

Mimi even got out the camera and took pictures of me with my cooking at every stage of the cooking....it turned into quite the event! Now we just need to get those pictures developed (:

While the bread was cooking and we were anxiously waiting we all sat out on in the carport and chatted about different stuff, taking advantage of the wonderful weather. We always seem to end up out there whenever we all get together. It is very nice. We sit out in the sun, chatting and drinking our cokes, and in today's case, eating bread with fancy butter. It's like a southern afternoon tea time!

TA DA!!! This is the long awaited almost finished product. I say almost finished because I also made raspberry butter to spread on it. That was like the icing on the cake! The time I spent on today's project was well worth it. I had lots of fun and it was delicious if I do say so myself!

Well fed with a side of noise overload.

This weekend has been pretty great. I got home yesterday afternoon and I think we have been going ever since. Today Mama, Dad, and I went to the MM meeting, Mama ran 22 miles and Dad and I just ran 2.5. It was nice, though, and I'm proud of those few miles. I'm starting to get where I can almost keep up with him the whole time. Progress!

After our run, Dad and I went to Another Broken Egg and had a wonderful breakfast! Mine was the "Hey Ricky!!" and it was delicious. As you can see from the picture it was quite big, but just so you know, I did not eat it all. 

After that great meal, we headed home and after cleaning up I went out and about with Kate and Zack to run some errands and go see one of the grandparent sets. We stopped by Wal-Mart and Kroger (I had to find all the ingredients to make mozzarella sticks tomorrow) then over for Happy Hour at Sonic, finally stopping by to see our Mimi and Papa. Fun times! Once we got back home, Caroline decided to break out her trumpet for some reason (she's actually very good) at the same time that we were all chatting with Mama about her run and other stuff. It was very loud and quite the overload.

We then headed out for some "Congratulations on finishing 22 miles" dinner at Sal & Mookies. Once again, YUM!!! I always seem to leave for school well fed with slightly tighter pants after a weekend at home. What's going to happen now that I have a whole week? (; I guess that marathon training will come in handy this week. Happy Spring Break everyone!

My favorite kind of studying

Well midterms are this week. I have something due in all of my classes, and this even includes my modern dance one. Not only do I have to write a paper and give a presentation with my partner, but we also have been given the assignment to choreograph a 2-3 minute piece constructed of things we have focused on in class over the past two months. Sounds easy for someone who has been dancing for as long as she can remember, right? Definitely not! We have until Friday to get it done and we are only about 1:15 into it. We still have a lot of work to do with all the cleaning up and transitioning through parts that we are solid in. Tonight we worked for about an  hour or so and came up with about 30 seconds to add onto 40 that we already had from yesterday. It's not all cleaned up or anything yet, but here is a little snippet of what we've got so far:

American Idol?

Today I caught up with American Idol today while writing one of my papers. Now, I am not usually an American Idol watcher, but after hearing my dad and Caroline talk about it this weekend I had to check it out so I knew what they were talking about. All the people they said were good really were good, but I have to say that I am not thrilled by who is on this season (besides the girl from Brandon...she is the bomb!!). Is it just me, or has this show lost some of its coolness? Maybe it's just me and the fact that it has been forever since the last time I watch it.

I Love Dessert!

Today was such a good day! I got to start it with some good ole Marathon Makeover time, running 3 miles, and ending it with some Yummy cherry pie and Modern Family with the family. It's the simple days that please me the most.
Between beginning and end there was some fun, too! After the MM meeting Mama, Caroline and I got breakfast at Joe's Diner and did some shopping for some bits and bobs out in Flowood. Mama and I also went by one of the little shops in town and saw many very interesting things (which she wrote about in her blog today: reluctantmarathoner.blogspot.com ). We also watched Failure To Launch! It was my first time to see it and I thought it was quite funny. I'm not of the guy who played the main character (I can't spell his name), usually just when he is in a movie with Kate Hudson, but I feel like he played the part of a man-child very convincingly and funnily.
All in all it was a very satisfying day and I can't wait to have more cherry pie again tomorrow!

Catching up

Wow! I've been such a bad blogger. What has it been? Two weeks? Jeez Louise. Well here's to catching up. I've been quite busy the past few weeks. There has been studying, testing, bible studying, exercising, as well as tons of other stuff.
I finally received a package that I ordered over a month ago! It is a purse and I have to say that I am very proud of it. I ordered it off eBay and I'm loving it! Also, I have been spending some time with one of my friends and her son. They are so sweet. We spend time working on history and other school stuff. I find spending time at her home very entertaining and delicious...she is a great cook! Another great thing: I got some new running shoes! I tried them out this week and thy feel great! It doesn't hurt that they are mighty pretty either!!
Midterms are coming up next week and I have tests and several of my classes as well as a presentation in my dance class. I am quite excited because as soon as midterms are done I get to go on spring break!
I decided to come home for the weekend before all this madness ensues so that I can gather my wits and finish up my studying and project making. It is so nice to spend some time with my family. It has only been two weeks since I've been home, but boy have they been long. It's nice to get home, eat some Yogn Frut, and just chill with the family!