Bum Day:

Naner, Nick and I were gonna hit the beach today, but it still hasn't quite got warm enough yet, and we've gotta be here for the fridge guy, so we're gonna wait till tomorrow. So now we're just hanging out, watching Canadian TV. Just had some tasty pasta for lunch.

Long, Productive Day:

Spent all day doing homework and reading for class. I've gotten several chapters read, a discussion completed, and almost my entire web chat done. I've got some laundry done and folded, and I have another load in the dryer. I still need to put away the dishes, and start another load, and do a load of towels, but I'm getting there.

Tomorrow going to work on some things around the house. Going to try and work on the crown molding in the bedroom again, and work on the garage some more, maybe mow, and clean up the patio.

Pics From B.A.R.F.

Long, Good Day:

We left for Tampa around 7:45am yesterday and stopped at Chick-fil-a for breakfast. Then headed to B.A.R.F. It was a little slow to start because we got there at the very beginning and none of the actual shows started till noon, but it was much fun and the shows were great! I was worried when we got there that Dougal and Naner weren't going to like it after all, but they laughed the majority of the time. And David got picked from the audience for one of the shows. I took lots of pictures, but those particular ones didn't come out great, because I was sitting next to him and it was just too close for my camera. But there are lots of pictures to come in a bit, and a few video clips as well! :) We had dinner at Chili's and got home around 9:30pm. I got a little bit sunburned, but it's alright.

Today I was going to head to City Walk for the Ellen taping, and the Usher/Rascal Flatts concert, but I don't think Naner can/wants to go, and I don't want to go by myself and David has to work. :(

The next few weeks are going to get tough and be very busy. The semester is coming to a close, and I've got a lot of work to do. Next Sunday I have my powerpoint and Confinement Project due. Hoping to maybe do those tonight though, and get them out of the way. In a few weeks I've got a paper on gun control as well. I have the abstract done, title page, and the references page done, but that's it so far on that one. And I have LOTS of reading to do. So instead of going to the show, even though I really want to, gonna stay home and work on school I think. It'll be nice when the semester is over and I get a break though, so I can catch up on some of the crafts that I haven't been able to work on.

Oh, and in good news. I've got one of my professors who said she'd love to write me a letter of recommendation! Yay! So now I just need to ask two other professors, and I already know who I'm going to ask, but I'm going to wait until the end of the semester for one of them, and then asked the other next semester after I have him again. Because even if I do get the funding for this, and do get accepted into the PhD program, I think I'd end up taking a year off before I do it anyway, because I think it's too late for me to get accepted into this Fall's program, and I'm not sure if I could start in Spring, or if I'd have to start in Fall.

Update:

Finally got my family moved, and the house is absolutely beautiful! Loves it! 98% of the stuff is in and out away! :) Good work us! Tomorrow we're heading to Tampa for B.A.R.F., and then Sunday I think I'm heading to City Walk for the Ellen show, and to see Usher and Rascal Flatts! :) Good times. Then next weekend is Easter apparently. May or may not be heading down to move in my cousin and his wife.

Had my meeting with my professor, and he was really nice. He was definitely helpful. Got my paper dropped off, and got the approval code for my class, and am all signed up for my final two courses. Also, filled out my FAFSA before realizing that I don't actually need it, because I'm not planning to be in school for Fall, since I graduate in Summer.

My professor thinks that I should continue on, and I'm considering it, just not sure how I'd ever pay for it. He thinks I should go for my PhD (because he did it, and said it's amazing the opportunities that open right up for you) or law school. So who knows. I would love to do either of them, but they are just so expensive. I just wish there was more financial aid out there for those of us that want to continue. I wish I qualified for grants. Maybe I'll see if I qualify for any grants for the 2010-2011 year, and if I do, then I'll look into maybe trying to get into the PhD program there. Who knows. I know, that ultimately, it'd be a lot cheaper than law school, and I'd be able to make the money back faster after graduating. Agh. Money is so frustrating. I hate having to base decisions concerning my family and my education and things like that around finances. I hate that I feel so held back because of money. But anyways, I guess we'll see how it goes. And I'll look into some more, to see just how much it really would cost me to do a PhD program and how long it would take me.

Finally Done!

So we finally finished the job, and ended up underpaid and exhausted, but it's done and out of the way, thank GOD! It took basically a week verses the 2-3 days we expected it to.

Today I've got an appointment on campus with one of my teachers, because I'm just really having trouble understanding some of the material and he's going to try and help me with it. Also, I've gotta go see my advisor and get the permission to take my Capstone class, and drop off my Program of Study form.

Then this week, I have a ton of reading to do. Last night I finished one of my papers, and then I've got another paper to finish (only like another paragraph or two) and a powerpoint to write up that are due on the 4th.

This weekend we are moving my parents into their new house, and then Saturday, Renee, Dougal, David and I are heading to Tampa for the Bay Area Ren Fest. Lots of pictures to come! :) I was going to dress up, but now I'm thinking it'll be too hot to want to do that.

In other news, in the next few weeks, we will be having some somewhat long-term visitors. My cousin and his wife will be moving in with us for a little while until they can get their own place up here. So it's going to be very busy over the next few weeks.

Also, I've got 5 weeks left of this semester, and then I'm in my final semester. I'm so nervous and excited! And definitely ready for it. But for now, I'm going to go try and work on laundry, and get some reading done before I have to head to campus.

Such A Long, Exhausting Day:

My cousin and his wife are here, and we hired them on to help us with our job today. We were there for 7 hours in the sun doing hard manual labor. Every inch of me is tired and sore, and we still aren't done. Ridiculous. But with the dump being closed tomorrow, there is nothing more we can do, so tomorrow is a day of rest, relaxation, and fun with family. :)

Productive Week:

The house is clean and looks awesome, got all of the grocery shopping done, picked up a new purse because my old one was falling apart and changing colors, appraised the job, and have been working on it the past two days, did my web chat, and the abstract, as well as the discussions. I am almost done with my paper, only a page or two more, and I am really proud of it. Then I just have the midterm to write by Sunday at midnight. Got lots of laundry done and the dishes. Tonight we've gotta start on the pork butt, and tomorrow I've gotta start on the roast. And we may have gotten lucky, and my uncle might be bringing my cousin and his wife up so that we have more time to work on the job, and don't have to drive 6 hours. Fingers are crossed.

Home Again Home Again:

Had a good trip. Got to have lunch with two of our friends while we were over there, then as we were leaving my car wouldn't start or even pretend to turn over. We had our friend's neighbor jump us, and drove to Walmart to get a new battery. When we picked up the old one, there was like an inch of fluid underneath. Suddenly explains the dead battery? Agh. But we got the new one, and it's running smooth again. Tonight cleaning house, tomorrow writing a 2 page abstract, and doing a web chat and appraising a job. Then Thursday, grocery shopping and writing my Juvenile Justice paper, then Friday going to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up my cousin and his wife for the weekend. Then next weekend David, Dougal, Naner and I are heading to Ren Faire! Very busy and very excited!

Tampa Bound:

Heading off to Tampa here in a few to go take care of our CCW's. They should hopefully be here in about a week, and then I get to order my gun! :) Yay!

Long day..

Got some laundry done, and got a ton done on my cross stitch. I'll add pix to Erin's Crafty Corner in a few. Watching "Kendra" and getting ready for my internship interview tomorrow and my confinement project. Had a good time at my grandma's birthday party, and got ahold of the McDaniel family tree so that I can now add it to mine. It still needs a lot of updating though. And my other grandma sent me a link about the Brown family tree. I'm going to check that out here shortly. It sucks though because there's like absolutely nothing about either of my grandma's sides and it sucks. Agh.

Grandma's Birthday:

So Tuesday is Grandma's birthday, so we're having a little birthday party for her this evening. Not too sure what time it will be though. I need to stop and pick her up a card. And some more chapstick because I lost the one I just bought already. Agh. But yeah, so I'll be at my Grandma's today, while David is at work, then I'll probably come home and read some for school and work on the cross stitch again.

So Sleepy....

Got up at 6:30am this morning to go help Naner find a prom dress. It has been a long long day, and there have been a lot of frustrations, but in the end we found the absolute perfect dress. She looks so beautiful in it. And I got a ton done on my cross stitch but now I am just so tired, and just want to sleep. David is working a double and won't be home till about 1am. Then we lose an hour tomorrow because of the time change. Bleh. Then Monday I have my interview with Lockheed Martin for a paid internship, and then my confinement project. Sleep please?

3/11/10 Update:

This is terribly crappy day. It's rainy and dreary outside. :( But I'm still getting things done and being productive. I've got laundry going, and am getting ready to start the dishes here in a few, and I've taken all my notes for my Juvenile Justice paper, from all 12 references and I have the references page done and good to go. I still have to go through my textbook though and find two theories that apply to this case, but I've still got a week and a half until it's due, so I'm not stressing it. So pretty much, I just have to write it now, but now I'm worried that I have too much information because the paper is only supposed to be 3-5 pages long. Oh well, I'll just have to look through it and see what is most important out of the notes I took.

In other news, I added another page on here for some of my favorite recipes. The link is up towards the top of this page. There will be more pictures added to them soon, but I just didn't have any on hand when I wrote up the recipes last night. And there will be another update on my cross-stitch on "Erin's Crafty Corner" in a few.

Shepard's Pie

1 lb. of ground beef

1 can of corn

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

3/4 lb. of potatoes

3 tablespoons of butter/margarine

Salt and pepper to taste

Garlic salt to taste

8 oz. of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4-1/2 cup of milk

Place the ground beef in a pan and add salt, pepper and garlic salt. Continue to cook until brown.

Peel the potatoes and rinse them off. Place them into a boiling pot of water. Cook until a fork can easily go through them. Drain potatoes and put back in pan. Add 3 tablespoons of butter/margarine and 1/4-1/2 cups of milk and some pepper and garlic salt to taste. Mix with a mixer until smooth/mashed.

Get a large baking pan and layer the meat on the bottom. Drain the can of corn and add to the meat. Add the can of cream of mushroom soup to the meat and corn, and mix the mixture until combined thoroughly. Make a small handfull of shredded cheese and layer it over the mixture. Take the mashed potatoes and layer it over the layer of cheese. Once spread out, take the remaining cheese and layer over the top. Cover with tinfoil and place in the over at 350* for 35-45 minutes.

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White Bean Chicken Chili

3 cans of great northern beans

4 cloves of garlic (minced or pressed)

2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chilis

2 tsp of ground cumin

1 tsp of ground cayenne pepper

Salt to taste

1 lb. of boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 1/2 cups of chicken broth

Drain the beans. Place them in a slow cooker. Add the garlic, spices, salt, tomatoes and chicken broth, and stir to combine. Place the chicken breasts over the top. Cover and cook on Low for 9-10 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours.

When ready to serve, break apart chicken breasts with fork to shred. Also good with tortillas, sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, etc.

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Deluxe Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 cup of crushed gingersnap cookies

1/3 cup of finely chopped pecans

1/4 cup of melted butter

4 - 8 oz. packages of softened cream cheese

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

4 eggs

2 tsp of vanilla extract

1 can of pumpkin

2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg

Place a greased 9 in. pan on a double thickness of heavy tin foil. Securely wrap the foil around the pan.

In a small bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, pecans and butter. Press onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350* for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.

For filling, in a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and eggs, and beat on low until combined.

Place two cups of the filling in a small bowl, and stir in the pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove 3/4 of a cup of pumpkin filling and set it aside. Pour the remaining pumpkin filling over the crust and top it with the remaining plain filling. Drop spoonfuls of the reserve pumpkin filling over the cheesecake. Cut through with a knife to swirl it.

Place the pan in a large baking pan and add 1 in. hot water to the larger pan. Bake at 350* for 55-65 minutes or until the center is set. Remove the pan from the water. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully the a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Let it sit for an hour longer. Refrigerate it overnight.

Garnish it with chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, whipped topping, and additional cookie crumbs.

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Veggie Casserole

2 cans of french cut green beans

2 cans of white shoe-peg corn

8 oz. container of sour cream

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

8 oz. of shredder sharp cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Drain the cans of green beans and white shoe-peg corn, and place into a large baking pan. Add sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper and combine in the baking pan. Cover with tin foil, and bake at 350* for 1 hour.

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Ravioli Soup

1 package (9 oz.) of fresh or frozen ravioli or tortellini

3/4 lb of hot italian sausage crumbled

1 can of stewed tomatoes (italian style)

1 can of beef broth

1 can of italian beans (drained)

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package, then drain them.

Meanwhile, cook the sausage in a pan over medium-high heat until there is no longer any pink, then drain. Add the undrained tomatoes, beef broth, and 1 3/4 cups of water, and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low, stir in the pasta and green beans. Simmer until it is heated through. Season with pepper and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

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Lasagna

1 package of lasagna noodles

1 large jar of spaghetti sauce (or make your own; ask me if you want to know how)

1 small can of black olives (drained)

2 medium sized zucchini squashes

1 can of sliced mushrooms (or slice your own fresh ones)

16 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 lb of ground beef

1 container of ricotta (can use cottage cheese as a substitute)

2 tsp of butter

Garlic salt to taste

Cook pasta (about 9 pieces) according to the directions on the back of the package, then drain.

Slice the zucchini and place into a pan with 2 tsp of butter, and a little garlic salt. Cook until tender, then drain.

While the others are cooking, cook the ground beef in a pan, adding garlic salt to taste, until browned, then drain. Add the spaghetti sauce, black olives, zucchini, and mushrooms. Mix until combined.

In a large baking pan, layer a little bit of the meat/veggie mixture into the bottom of the pan. Take three pieces of pasta and lay it over the meat mixture in the pan next to each other (so to cover the mixture). Layer with another layer of meat/veggie mixture. Take a spoon and scoop spoonfuls of ricotta onto the layer of meat. Then take a handful of shredded mozzarella and cover. Repeat these layers until all of the pasta is used up. On top of the last layer of pasta, add the last bit of meat/veggie mixture, and cover with remaining shredded cheese.

Bake at 350* for 45 minutes or until all of the cheese is melted.

Quizzes, quizzes, quizzes:

So I've got two quizzes today as well as a midterm later in the week, and Friday I am doing my confinement project, which is 9 hours of me being locked in a room by myself, no human contact, no TV, no phone, no computer. Only paper, a pen, and reading material. Each hour I have to update in my "journal" how I'm feeling, and what I'm experiencing. I get a 30 minutes lunch break, and 2 bathroom breaks and that is it.

I just took one of my quizzes and got 100% on it! Yay!! :) Very exciting! So now I just have the one other quiz to take today which covers 7 chapters, so I've a little bit anxious about it. I also am going to get started on my juvenile justice paper here shortly. I already have a reference page made, and have like 8 references. I'd still like to try and find more though. And I need to get to the library one of these days.

Also, posted up a new update on my cross stitch on the Erin's Crafty Corner link listed above.

Productive Day:

So I felt like I was being lazy, but I've actually got a lot done already. I've got a load of clothes in the dryer, a load of towels in the wash, a load of dishes going, the dining room cleaned up a bit, working on cleaning up the guest bath a little, and cleaning up one of the guest rooms a little. I took out all of the recyclables, and am getting trash ready to be put out tonight. I called and tried to set up an appointment with my advisor, but instead she just did it all over the phone (which was much more convenient). She said that the class that shows up as a requirement but is not available, is no longer going to be taught, and that it has been changed, but not yet updated in our audits. She gave me the new course code and it IS available for summer. She also said that I can go ahead and fill out my intent to graduate now, so I did that, and it's all good to go. I have the courses for summer ready to go, but can't officially add them until the 23rd. But it's a step in the right direction, and that makes me happy. Now I'm taking a break and eating and watching "Undercover Boss".

Update:

Today is a rather lazy day. Hanging out, doing chores, watching TV and relaxing. I think I may work some more on the cross stitch today. I got all of my homework done, but in the next few weeks have two papers to write and a home confinement project to do, as well as two quizzes and a midterm. The two quizzes are tomorrow, and those should be relatively harmless. My last one I got a 100% on. Next week is the midterm and one of my papers. I think I may do my home confinement project on Friday, but we'll see. One of these weekends we're going to pick up my cousin and his wife for the weekend, so David and I will have a lot of cleaning to do around here. The house is a mess, but it shouldn't take too long to get it tidied up and looking like new. :) Saturday David is working a double, and Renee, Mom, and I are going to go try and find Renee a prom dress. I also need to call UCF and set up an appointment with my advisor, because I've got two classes left to graduate and in December I was told that those two classes would definitely be offered in summer. Well, I've looked at the schedule and one of the classes is offered, and the other class isn't offered summer 2010, fall 2010, or spring 2011?! WTF? And that class is a required course, so how in the hell am I ever supposed to graduate if that class is never available, so I will be having a large bone to pick with them very soon, especially since I am supposed to apply for graduation in the next month. Agh. So frustrating.

New Add:

So since I've been getting into a lot more crafty things, I decided to try and keep the blog aspect and the crafty stuff separate from here on out, so I don't bore you with a bunch of craft pictures. However, if you DO want to bored with seeing them, at the top of this page, there is a link to "Erins Crafty Corner" where you can see new things, and other crafty things from here on out. :)

Happy Birthday Marj!

Just wanted to wish my mother-in-law, Marj, a very happy birthday!!

Cross Stitch Update:

Got a lot more done again, and it's starting to look the way that it should, but still a LOT more to go.

So Somewhat Exciting News:

David is in the Florida Today, today. He's talking about Parks and Rec and their blatant disregard of Florida law and the constitution by posting signs stating at the public parks that no guns are permitted. There were a bunch of comments left, mostly good intelligent ones, with a couple of idiots. I find it funny though now, because after all of the comments, Florida Today just disabled it. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100302/COLUMNISTS0207/3020317/Brevard-lifts-gun-limits-at-county-parks

Apparently the story already made it to the radio and Ch. 2 news as well. Good lord.