Patience is a virtue...

God is teaching me some lessons right now in my life about patience, that's for sure. Waiting for Mr. Everyday to finish law school and waiting to see if I got accepted into a program for this coming fall semester are by far the two that are really testing me. So far, I got a "Needs Improvement" on waiting for law school, but I've definitely been improving ever since. Like, my mindset has totally changed. It's amazing. I don't think I've ever had such a dramatic change like this. So I'm now on my road to an "Outstanding" with that situation. Yes, I did just use an elementary grading scale to describe my level of patience, and if you don't like it you can get a check minus (that's some middle school grading for ya).

Jeez, this kid sucked in math. This is def not my report card from ANY grade.

 

If I had to grade myself on how patient I'm being with my grad school acceptance results, it'd have to be the same grade that kid got in math for most of the year. What is a C? Like a below average? I forget. Either way, I'm sucking at being patient with them. But then again, it's not all my fault. They said they'd make their decision by March 15th and to expect to hear something after that. Am I really supposed to wait until July to make plans to go to school for the 2 years. I hope not. I seriously pray I hear something by the end of April because if I get one more notice about my loans that need to get paid off I'm going to explode.

Yeah, like that.

I have a lot to plan for to get ready for school. Like, how am I going to pay for my place. Do I apply for scholarships now? How will I pay for books? I have some people who don't think I can do all of this on my own, but I know I can and I will prove them wrong. I just need to get the OK, from the school to get things started. And I promise that when I do find out I will celebrate like no other! Maybe a trip to NY? Who knows? But really, who wouldn't accept me into their program. I'm smart, dependable, dedicated, adaptable, a leader, willing to learn, a hard worker and so much more! I just need the opportunity to show what I can do. It would be awesome to get the next chapter of my life started, but I guess just like with everything else, God will make it happen when He feels I'm ready. And I'm ok with that.                                               

"Cooke"ing up a storm in the kitchen!

I am sick as a freakin dog! And I don't have anyone to take care of me :-( But mama ain't raise no fool, I've been doing a great job of keeping myself in good spirits and full of medicine. Today, as I was laying on my couch feeling like crap, I got the idea to make something warm for my throat and that would be a great "pick me up". One thing I haven't had since I've been away from home is chicken and dumpling soup. So I looked through a bunch of recipes and talked to my parents and came up with my own version of the soup. So here's how it went:

I gathered all my ingredients together that I could find in my kitchen, I did go to the store to get the large sweet onion, carrots, and celery but that's because I wanted fresh veggies in my soup. Canned veggies work well, too.

2 lb. of wingettes, 2 large carrots (fresh), 1 stalk of celery (fresh), 1 large sweet onion, 1 container of ready to bake country biscuits,  1-10oz can of chicken broth, 1-32oz container of chicken broth, seasoning salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, margarine, and water

So I took the chicken out of my freezer on Sunday, because I knew I wanted to do something with it sooner and later, and let it thaw. It's never a good idea to thaw your chicken out in the microwave, due to bacteria that will spread rapidly due to the high temperature. You can also thaw it out in the sink with cold water running over it. The most proper way to thaw it is to let it thaw out in the refrigerator due to the safe temperature below 41 degrees. I got my B.S. degree in Nutrition so I know a thing or two about food safety.

I cleaned them once they were thawed and separated them. You can actually use chicken breast, I think may work better for this soup.

So next, I boiled the chicken in the chicken broth and 6 cups of water. Now, I think I was so used to making other different types of soups that I added way too much water. So, I think it would be best to stop at like 4.5 cups of water. That's just my opinion, though. Oh yeah, I put my seasonings in at this point, too.

Looks like too much water, this is also a shot of the pot before it started to fully boil. Lol, looks like a big pot of nothing. 

Next came the fun part! I cut up a butt load of veggies! Now, I normally hate hate hate onions! But the one thing I do know is that onions bring great flavor to soups and I'm willing to eat some onions to make sure my soup takes freaking awesome! This is the only time you will EVER see me eat onions. ONLY in soups....or by accident, lol. I added the celery because my dad told me it would taste great in the soup, and you know what? He's right! Carrots are one of my favorite veggies and I just had to add them in there :-) Their sweet taste adds so much great flavor.

All the veggies have been cut up! And I didn't lose a finger!

So I added them to the broth and chicken, after letting the chicken boil for about 40 minutes. I lowered the heat to a little below medium before adding them in.

Does it look good yet? Ehhh, it smelled wonderful!

I looked everywhere for my roller and couldn't find it :-( So I had to go and do it the old fashion way. I took the biscuits out of the container and used my hands to flatten them out before cutting them into fours. I used the whole pack, too. In my opinion, I like these better than the frozen dumpling sheets that you can get at the grocery store. They have more taste and they swell up and hold more flavor than those flat dumplings.

I did a pretty good job if I don't say so myself :-)

I added the dough in once I was done cutting them into fours. It seemed like as soon as they touched the soup  they began to expand. I had to make sure that I stirred in between adding a couple of dumplings to make sure that they all had a chance to absorb some of the yummy broth. When I first added them they all stayed to the top, but after raising the heat to medium for 20 minutes, they began to drop and mix in well with the other ingredients. 

Pow! Pow! They blew up!

After 20 minutes, I turned to stove off and let it simmer before mixing it one final time 15 minutes later. It smells DELICIOUS!!!! I put some in a Tupperware for work tomorrow but I haven't tasted it just yet. One reason is because I'm about to go to bed, and the other reason is because I just took my medicine and at the moment I can't really taste food. Yeah, it sucks. As soon as I decided to make this my nose got even stuffier and my taste buds have gone numb. 

Success!!!

She can't taste anything either :-( I feel her pain *sigh*

So tomorrow, I'll come back and actually let you know how the soup was. I should be able to tell good news. I go the doctor tomorrow and they should give me some stronger meds to help me taste things again...oh yeah and breath, that's important, too.

***UPDATE***
So I got sent home from work so I wouldn't infect and babies or kids and ended up eating my soup at home. It tastes great! It also made me sleep better because I could breath due to all the broth I put in it. If you're sick, a lot of broth is the way to go. If you're just making this because you're bored, def hold back on broth. But either way it turned out better than I expected :-D

Life Lesson #1: Worry About Yourself First, Not Others

Now, I've learned plenty of life lessons up to this point in my life, I'm just calling this #1 because it's the first I'm discussing up here.

I realized today (and somewhat last night) that I really don't spend enough time thinking about myself and how I feel. Also, I get worked up pretty easily over things and start thinking stupid stuff. I had a conversation with a doctor that works at my clinic about how your IQ lowers when you become emotional/upset. The one thing I try not to do is act on impulse because that's what really gets you in trouble. I'm also glad I have this blog, because it takes me so long to write out everything, that by the time I'm almost done I'm calmer and can think clearer. I was spazzing out not too long ago about how me and Mr. Everyday talk now. We're currently on a "break" but still talking to each other. This is totally fine with me because this time is really going to help me learn more about myself and get my stuff straight. But I get confused sometimes about how often I should contact him. Should I not call him at all today? Is it ok to text him? Is emailing him at work too much? I just don't want to over do it or start crowding his space. Just as this is time for me to think it's time for him to think too. Sometimes I just can't figure out if it's the right time to contact him. I put so much time into thinking about him and how he feels that I don't even take the time to just relax and enjoy myself. So, that's what I'll start working on first. I have all this time to get things done and enjoy myself and the people who are around me. Mr. Everyday will be there. A text or call here and there is fine, but I shouldn't get so worked up over it. Either he wants to talk or he doesn't and that's fine because at the end of the day I know he still loves me :-)

The Monsters in The Trees

I finally got my blog up and running! It took me forever and a day to figure out what the heck I was going to call it but it's finally here! I know the name may sound a little cliched, but it actually has a double meaning. I've been a runner for pretty much most of my life. And not just any old "I want to go and jog and look cute" runner I won championships and did what a lot of people didn't think I could do. Running is my passion and whenever I'm feeling down there's nothing that makes me feel better. It's what I'm good at. It's what I want to be better at.

I'm also in a relationship with an awesome guy, check him out here. He's an awesome guy and I know he's the one. Like, seriously, I KNOW. I thought I was ready for marriage with my guy until something crazy happened in my life. It made me realize I didn't know much about myself. There was so much that I needed to learn before I made that next big step. I don't know when we'll be ready for the next big step, but I'm in this for the long run. 

So now that I'm done with my little introduction, on to my first topic! MONSTERS IN THE TREES!

                                            

After work I decided to go on a run with Pumpkin (my lovely Min Pin). Just a short run. It normally takes about 15 minutes to run the small trail I normally use, but this time it took just a little bit longer. The first day of spring was this past Tuesday so that means my worst enemies are now out and about. No, not pollen. God has blessed me with no allergies. Not spiders or crickets, although they both creep me out still. There's only one thing that makes my skin crawl and makes me soooo angry!!! They're everywhere and they leave a mess wherever they go. They're inch worms!!!! They're the most annoying, small, creepy crawly things I've ever laid eyes on. They get everywhere and once you've gotten rid of one there are thousands more in the trees. Once I started approaching the trees on my run I could see the silk they made shining on the street signs and down the tree branches. As I got closer I saw them. Some we brown and some were green, but they all did that funky crawly thing that do where they look like this:

 

Ugh!!!! It just makes my stomach crawl! There's so green!!! Yuck!!! 

When I thought I was in the clear from running under the trees I looked down and saw a brown one on my leg! I almost freaked out! But I had to keep my composure because cars were passing by and I didn't want to look crazy. Anyways, as I was running past the trees and up the hill when a question popped into my head. What the heck is an inch worm really and what is it's purpose? Why on earth is something so annoying, yucky looking, and green on this earth. God made everything on this Earth for a reason so what's up with these nasty worms?

Well I went over to Wikipedia and found out what they were.

Inchworms are the caterpillars of geometer moths. That's right, baby moths! Ugly little annoying baby moths! They make their silk all over the place and eat up all the plants!

InfoPlease.com says:

inchworms lack appendages in the middle portion of their body, causing them to have a characteristic looping gait. They have three pairs of true legs at the front end, like other caterpillars, but only two or three pairs of prolegs (larval abdominal appendages), located at the rear end. An inchworm moves by drawing its hind end forward while holding on with the front legs, then advancing its front section while holding on with the prolegs. Inchworms have smooth, hairless bodies, usually about 1 in. (2.5 cm) long. They are green, brown, or black and in many species have irregular projections that cause them to resemble the twigs of the trees they feed on. Many inchworms, when disturbed, stand erect and motionless on the prolegs, increasing the resemblance. Certain destructive inchworms are called cankerworms. 

Read more: inchworm — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0825073.html#ixzz1pthKhu9O

Doesn't that sound so gross to you? Now here's how they look when they grow up. 

 

So yeah, these nasty little creatures are making my peaceful evening run a mess. But it's cool. With the weather so nice out and with the extra day light I'd have to be a fool to pass up the opportunity to run just a little bit longer....