weekendings

It seems I only have things to blog about after weekends. Which is sad, since I don't really have much to blog about now. I thought however I'd keep up with traditions, being that I'm an Aggie. Speaking of being a traditionalist Aggie (it actually ties in, I promise!) I am having a heck of a time finding photos of one of the biggest Aggie traditions. Im not so sure how to rate the importance of traditions, but this is a big one. Senior corps members (for those who don't know) get to wear these custom riding boots from a store thats been making these boots for over 100 years as part of their uniform. So, you'd think this momentous occation would be overly documented, however I've found (because my boss is looking for photos of this boot store pre 1970s) that it's not, or if it is, they hide the photos. The store has since relocated from its original location because rent was getting to be too much. So this tacky hookah bar has moved in, and wants to redesign the facade. Of course this area is "historical" so they have to abide by the code. The city is saying that the existing building is "historical" however we don't think 1970s brick is quite historic....or attractive. Without these pictures though, we can't prove that that's not the original building. We've looked everywhere, multiple libraries, the corps center, the boot store, the city, the Aggie network, nothing! They photograph every cadet when he/she gets their boots, since 1907, where have these mystery photos gone!?

We've also found that pawn shops are a great place to look, if you're taking up golf, but not for tennis. A used sports equipment store...also not a great place to look for tennis stuff for cheap, Target, however, is very good! Another thing I've learned, half price books is an amazing and wonderful place! And lastly, you can't make daquries on Sunday if you don't have booze in your house. You can buy beer and wine, and wine coolers, but not rum. Interesting....

getta lotta, getta lotta enchalata

I made enchaladas this week, and it resulted in the jingle from some mexican restaurant a number of years ago, that was running a deal on enchaladas, getting stuck in my head. Uncommonly known as an earworm. Its strange how that happens, how something that you haven't seen/heard for years can all of the sudden pop into your head because of something that you're doing now. Im one of those obnoxious people that hears someone use a phrase, and then sings a song that has that phrase in it. I never knew it was annoying, but apparently it is. I try to keep it on the inside now. Obviously not for this post, since I used the jingle as the title of the post. Of course, does it count if no one knows what I'm referring to? I'm not even sure where it was from, perhaps I could google it. *google break* So apparently its from Taco Cabana. Thanks google, thanks and gig 'em!

hmm

Ok, I couldn't think of a good title for this particular entry, but "hmm" always fits. I finally got my hair cut this weekend! After growing it out for months so I could put it up all pretty for one day (a very important day, I'm not complaining) I finally chopped it off! It was getting a bit ridiculous. A lot of girls can carry off long hair, but I don't think I can. Once it hits this certain point, it just looks raggety and sad. I was beginning to look like a 16 year old mall rat. So I got it cut Saturday morning. A fellow blogger discussed earlier about the euphoria of getting your hair cut and styled, and it looks amazing for a day, and then you take a shower and have the resposibilty of getting it to behaive, which it never does. I actually didn't have that experience. Mostly because she didn't even wash my hair before cutting it. It was probably really gross to cut, because I didn't wash it that morning, so she got the nasty oily morning hair. She did a good job, didn't cut it too much shorter than I asked for, but she didn't do anything to it afterwards. Not a blow dry, not even a comb through! Granted I didn't go to an expensive salon, but I thought I remembered them doing something afterwards. Oh well, it still came out well, and it made me feel better that, I actually got it to look better than it did when I left the place!

Also, big news! We had great success at the super market, im sure you're all glad to know! I picked a cantaloupe that has almost reached its perfection (ok maybe not, but its a darn good melon!) Its a big step! Well, then I got pushed around by this rude little 3 year old girl....she waived at husband, and so I smiled and waived to her and she ran up to me and shoved me! Right in the calf! No longer was she cute in my eyes! Twerp tried to ruin my cantalope glow!

And, for the first time, I decided that I buy too many granola bars, and should try to make my own granola to save some cash. So I did, and its really actually pretty good! Its just oats, raisins, hazelnuts, honey and a little veggi oil cooked for 10 minutes and voila, you've got granola! If I had known it was that easy, I would have done it a long time ago! The same fellow blogger as mentioned before has mentioned her and her mom making granola before, and I just thought that was the most amazing thing to me, I just thought It'd be like making bread, really time consuming and ridiculously difficult to make (ok so im hyperbolizing a little, again, I've never tried it). Granted, I did make the easiest recipie available, but it wasn't so bad!

stuff I learned this weekend

The weekend is a great time for rest and relaxation, or catching up on things. (just in case you've never had one, thats what they're good for, and you're welcome) So this past weekend, husband and I finally got rid of this big honkin' desk and donated it to Goodwill. Lesson one; when Goodwill means "drop off behind building" they actually mean its on the side of the building, but like to tease you so you carry your stuff around the building, looking a tad bit ridiculous. Afterwards we had a picnic lunch at one of the parks in college station, and played a new card game we just purchased at Target called Rook. Lesson two; just because it says 2-4 players, doesn't mean the game for 2 players makes any sense. Lesson three; bees like yogurt. Then, we went home and watched a movie and hung out a bit. I made chocolate chip cookies with "help" from husband. Lesson four; husband overanalyses measuring stuff, and slows down the process, but he's cute (not a lesson, I already knew that). Lesson five; dove dark chocolate cut into chunks is the only way to make chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate bunnies don't have to be eaten as is, they can be mercilessly hacked into said chunks as a sacrifice to make cookies. Then on Sunday we went to church, and then to get the oil changed in the truck. Lesson six; walmart doesn't have the equipment to change the oil in a truck, because they stink. Also, we noticed that our inspection sticker was a month over due, leading to lesson seven; inspectors don't work on Sundays. poop on a stick! So we went to Freebirds for lunch :) and then hung around the house for a little while, when we decided to go for a walk. Lesson eight; there is yet another park in our tiny town that I didn't know about, thats less than a mile away from home! woo!

another post dealing with the f-word

But this time, its a good post! I finally had a breakthough, and created a semi-creative meal! (I had some inspiration from a recipie, but lacked about half of the stuff it called for, so I just made up the rest) here it goes;

ronzoni whole wheat pasta - Enough for 3-4 servings(I used a mix of the penne and the twisty kind because I was almost out of the twisty kind, and it wasn't enough for two) No, im not getting product placement royalties, but its good pasta!
raw spinach - about 2 solid cups (I just used the stuff from the bags of salad and cut off the stems)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
small tomatoes - I used 7 or 8 of the vine ripe tomatoes (a little larger than grape) and cut them into quarters
1/4c. Parmesan Cheese
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
Diced chicken (optional) - I had a left over chicken breast, that I had cooked with cajun seasoning, and it was delicious, and a great way to use leftovers!

So then, prepare your pasta like normal, nothing new there. In a separate skillet put the oil and heat on a medium heat (a couple of minutes will do it. Add the spinach and water carefully, because the oil does jump when hot, and it burns a little. Cook spinach until just wilted. Once your spinach is cooked, take off heat and add chopped tomatoes and just let it chill out for a while. After your pasta has cooked, strain and return to pot. Add the spinach and tomatoes, parmesan cheese, pepper, and optional chicken (I won't force you, but it is really good) and mix well. Voila! I think it made about 4-5 servings. (by servings I mean I'm feeding a 23 year old man, so it could very well be 10 servings for normal people.)

I'm dreaming of white spring break?

Ok, so I don't actually get spring break anymore. What a crappy trade, I spend thousands of dollars and get these breaks, and then they give me a piece of paper and I trade in my freedoms and beautiful breaks, but make money. I guess you can't have it all, welcome to the real world Amanda part deux. Anyhow, my husband needs to keep up his running because he doesn't want to get kicked out of the Navy for having bad physical fitness test scores. So to encourage him, I go to the excersize room with him and jog. (which is weird because he actually has to encourage me to go more than I do him) Well, this morning we woke up begrudgingly, and made our way our the door, to find little white flurries dancing about. Snow? In Texas? In March? Needless to say, we didn't go excersise today. The snow continued for quite some time, and was coming down pretty good! I'd say there were some dime sized flurries out there. No, it didn't stick, so I still had work and there was still school. But thats some pretty exciting happenings for such a small town!

mayday!

I saw a news story stating that Airborne (the miracle drug) has lied about "being able to cure the common cold" and has settled a lawsuit of 3.2 million dollars. If you've ever bought airborne, you can apparently get your money back. (unfortunately, I don't have any reciepts.) It makes me sad, I feel bamboozed, taken, had! No, it doesn't cure the common cold, that was a dumb advertising idea on their part. I also think the using the marketing ploy of "its created by a teacher" didn't really add to anything. Obviously it did matter to some people, because that's why they bought it, however, it kind of made me question it more. No offence to elementary school teachers. Anyhow, I still like the medicine. I've felt something coming on, and taken Airborne, and felt better soon after. They're not pulling the medicine from the shelves or anything, its fine as a suppliment. You just can't trust anyone anymore, not even your teacher!?

On the plus side, I did get money back from Texas A&M. Im not sure why, but I won't complain. Thanks A&M, thanks and gig 'em!

there's ants in my pant..ry

Sunday morning, started like any other morning. I got up, took a shower, got ready for church, and headed into the kitchen to make breakfast. This mornings breakfast was supposed to be especially tasty, since just the day before, I bought some bananas to slice over my cereal. This was not just any cereal though, it was the new frosted flakes gold cereal (the kind with honey instead of frosting) that the supermarket had on sale, so I got to try it. Its no Kashi, but it was alot cheaper. I'd be furious if the story that is soon to unfold happened in Kashi cereal! Anyhow, I digress. So I grab a bowl, and pour in the cereal, and the milk, but noticed a little bug crawling around the inside rim of the bowl. I tried to shoo it out, but I guess I ended up killing it and knocking it into the bowl. Gross. I had turned to get a spoon, but my husband noticed the death fall and fished out the corpse. Ok, so now I can enjoy my breakfast! wrong. I turn around and notice my husband still has his finger in my cereal bowl. Gross again. That's when he looked at me, and said what every hungry woman doesn't want to hear "Honey, I think the bugs are in the cereal!" NO! He just had knock off brand cinnamon toast crunch the week before, and those pesky jerks didn't touch it, it had a lot more sugar! I guess maybe they were too snobby for knock off brand. They worked up a flight of stairs just to form a colony in my new cereal! I just picture this ant in an Indiana Jones hat exclaiming to his fellow jerk ants "there's gold in them their boxes!" You know..if an ant could read...or wear a hat. All I could think was, if they've inhabited that box, what else are they living in? Luckily my husband seems to think they didn't infiltrate anything else. Why? I don't know, nor care, as long as they stay away from now on! Which those ants will, because they're all dead and in the trash can, along with my cereal. I seem to have food issues.

stuck in a rut

We've almost made 2 months of wedded bliss, unfortunatly I think I've peaked already and am already on a decline. I can not come up with anything interesting to cook! I've discovered, I actually don't hate cooking, I just hate coming up with ideas of stuff to cook! It also doesn't help when I'm afraid of the grocery store....and meat. I consider myself somewhat creative, but not with food I'm afraid. Our meals generally consist of some form of noodles or some kind of chicken (usually different forms, like nuggets or grilled). I got crazy last thursday and made hot dogs, my husbands even had taco meat on it to make a psudo chilidog. Sometimes I'll combine stuff. For instance, I'll add the grilled chicken and broccoli to the spaghetti. It's delicious, just over done in our house. I have a recipie for delicious chicken packets, via MacKenzie, I like to use too, but you just can't make them every week, then they loose some of their special quality. Its not that I lack cookbooks, I've got 'em, but nothing sounds good, or I don't have the stuff for it. They always seem to ask for stuff that "everyone" has, but I don't. Seriously, who always has fresh lemons? Martha Stewart? Probably....she seems to have everything all the time, and if she doesn't, she makes it. Like marshmellows, the woman make her own marshmellows! But I digress.... Hopefully this is just a rut, and I'll find a wonderful cookbook for newlyweds that has recipies that sound tasty and healthy, and ask for stuff I have! Or maybe I'll write one! It'd have 4 recipies in it though...I may need to wait on that until I gather some more.