Boysssss & Basketball.

Okay people, so what the heck is this "march madness" basketball stuff EVERYONE is talking about? Let me tell you, I have no clue. At least I know that it deals with basketball right? I mean give me a break I learned a lot about football and actually have some what of an idea of what is happening when those guys are out on the field. So, I wanted to blog to everyone about my current situation.

Let me paint a picture for you. I am sitting on my couch with my television directly in front of me, of course with ESPN on. To my left, I have my LOVELY boyfriend, next to him, his roommate Tim and to my right, my boyfriend's brother Ryan. All THREE of them at this moment are creating some sort of basketball bracket and we are sitting in silence as they are concentrating so hard....awkward. (THEY ARE MAKING NOTES PEOPLE!!?!?!) They are planning on uploading a video of some sort of discussion about this bracket stuff. Whatever, I don't know what any of this means. I some what feel like a kid again and we are playing dress up, except with sports and not with pretty pretty princess jewelry. Boys, let me tell you, I don't get them. They say it is hard to understand a woman's mind, PSH...boys are JUST as confusing as we are. Anyways, time to watch a 30 for 30 movie now...on guess what the subject is.....BASKETBALL!!!!!! "The fab five" --- maybe it will be somewhat like Mean Girls....or maybe not..

Johnny Tsunami

So this morning/last night, Japan was hit with an 8.9 richter earthquake, which puts Japan  @ number 5 for the strongest earthquakes ever recorded. Then, shortly after Japan was followed by a tsunami. So far, as of this moment 40 people in Japan have been killed and there are at least 39 missing. However, this number is expected to go up, as a ship, carrying at least 100 people was supposedly swept up by the tsunami. Now, literally a few minutes ago the tsunami has hit Hawaii and is expected to hit parts of the west coast, including much of California in about a little over an hour.

Talk about waking up to some news this morning! It seems lately like there have been SO many natural disasters happening lately and it is kind of scary! Usually every morning I watch the Today show & definitely was surprised to see what they were covering today. God bless all those people and hope that the U.S. is able to evacuate everyone before the waves start to hit.

If you want to check out more info, Click HERE to go to CNN's cover on the story.

Week 10's insanity!

YOU HAVE ALMOST MADE IT!!  let me tell you folks, I am so excited that week ten is so close to coming to an end. Week of hell, even if your finals week is hell, is almost over too. I have experienced some comical things this week, as  my roommate drinks several 5 hour energy drinks per day not to mention the stress of credit card fraud and emergency vet visits. Despite all that, the only thing that kept me sane this week was probably my pup. I guess that it is a known fact that college students who own dogs are less stressed and just by petting your dog relieves a whole bunch of unneeded stress...just a random fact that I thought was cool. Ember, my pup a pretty cute beagle and is only at 2 years old. She's actually laying on my lap with a tennis ball as I type this. So on that note, I'm gonna go show her some much needed love.  Stay strong kids, this too shall pass!

Ember!!!!

How can this not make you happy??

Blog Prompt #4

Okay, seriously people, GIVE IT UP. The music industry has changed because of the internet drastically AND IT IS NOT GOING BACK whether you like it or not. iTunes alone has changed the face of the music industry. Needless to say, Koleman Strumpf's comments annoyed the heck out of me. I mean, the entire paper is constant negativity on these types of networks. I don't know about you but I love the fact that I can listen to any song that I could possible imagine with one click of a button, all while I'm laying in bed! Stop complaining.

Sure, negative things have occurred but so have some pretty awesome positive ones too. This thought might fall perfectly into Fredric Dannen's quote stating, "My epiphany, if you want to call it that, was simply this: consumers of recorded music will always embrace the format that provides the greatest convenience. " Damn straight consumers will always embrace the most convenient format for them. I mean, let's be honest here, American's are lazy and we do everything, literally everything, at a super sonic speed. Heaven forbid we are inconvenienced by having to go to the nearest Best Buy to pick up a C.D. that we would like to listen to when we can just sit on our butts and do it at any hour of the day. Convenience is EVERYTHING. I guess it's  not so much that this is what I agree with but this is what it is so I have to learn to like it because it is only going to become more technologically confusing, probably really soon knowing what Steve Jobs can do. 

A case of Senioritis.

I absolutely can not believe that it is already week 8. After this week we only have 2 more weeks and then finals week! I am somewhat hating my self a bit for procrastinating on some projects. NOW, thanks to myself, I am totally swamped with projects and homework galore for this week to get my feet back on the ground with the amount of work. Senioritis? Yep, that's right. Senioritis = my excuse. I mean, I am not a horrible student, I get good grades and usually have all of my work done way before it is due, but this year I seem to be taking things step by step, its working so far. I just can not believe how fast this term has gone by. It looks like now I need to crack down and hit the books, or the blog. Spring Break, here I come!

No Reservations...?

Deciding not to go out on a fancy dinner date on Valentine's Day and deciding that I would cook was a much better idea, not to mention relaxing! Cooking is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Even though I am still learning, I enjoy making a meal at least a couple of times a week. People seem to always have some sort of excuse to not cooking. My roommate explains to me that she may not know how to cook but she sure does know how to cook meals in the microwave! It usually is either not having enough time or saying that they just can't cook but it really is simple! (All you really have to do is follow the directions!) Yeah the clean up part is the worst but at least you know you ate a healthy, REAL meal and not just something you picked up in the fast food drive-thru. Not to mention, you can find really healthy yet tasty recipes for you to follow. Here are some of my favorite recipes:

Chicken Parmesan 

Ingredients

29 oz canned diced tomatoes, with Italian herbs (2 cans)   

1 tsp italian seasoning   

1/2 tsp dried basil   

1/2 tsp dried oregano   

1/2 tsp black pepper   

1 Tbsp sugar   

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar   

1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4-oz pieces   

1/2 cup(s) seasoned bread crumbs, Italian   

4 tsp olive oil, divided   

1 spray(s) cooking spray   

3/4 oz shredded part-skim mozzarella cheeses   

1/4 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese, fresh   

Instructions

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 35 minutes. Stir in sugar and vinegar; simmer 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1⁄2-inch thickness, using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Dredge chicken in breadcrumbs.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 chicken breast halves to pan; cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and chicken breast halves.

Arrange chicken in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour tomato mixture evenly over chicken, and sprinkle with cheeses. Cover and bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half, 3⁄4 cup tomato mixture, and 1 ounce cheese mixture).

Waffle Iron Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 spray(s) cooking spray   

2/3 cup(s) light cream cheese, at room temperature   

1/3 cup(s) unpacked brown sugar   

1/3 cup(s) sugar   

  1 large egg(s)   

1 tsp vanilla extract   

1/2 cup(s) whole-grain wheat flour   

1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour, unbleached   

1/4 tsp table salt   

1/2 tsp baking soda   

2 Tbsp fat-free skim milk   

6 oz mini chocolate chips

Instructions

Heat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions.

In a large bowl, whisk the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.

Coat the grids of the waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray. Use a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop to portion out a cookie onto each waffle square. Close the iron and cook until set and beginning to brown, 1-1/2 to 3 minutes, depending on the heat of your waffle iron. Use a thin metal spatula to transfer the cooked cookies to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining dough, coating the grids with spray as necessary.

America's #1 Dad!

America's #1 Dad! 

Yep. This is a drawing that a friend of mine did and placed it within a children's playground. My feelings on new media, such as television, internet, video games etc. are pretty strong. 

I believe that today parents have every right to be concerned with the new trend of having their child constantly being surrounded by some aspect of technology. Children are succumbed by new and "cool" technology and seem to always want to have the newest gadget on the market. I feel they are forgetting what it is like to even step outside.

For example, the little boy I nanny, on our very first day together, (he had just turned 6) he had spent 6 hours, (yes, really 6 hours) playing Pirates of the Caribbean play station game. Yet, when I asked him if he had ever gone mini golfing, fishing or to a water park, his answer was no to all of them. I couldn't BELIEVE that a 6 year old boy had never been mini golfing. So, from that day on, I now only allow a small time in the morning for video games/other technology and then for the rest of the day we go do various OUTSIDE activities. Together, he has now gone fishing, mini golfing and down a water slide.

This drawing portrays how many parents often just place their children in front of a T.V. or video game and then they don't have to worry about them. Essentially, technology is almost raising our children today! The fact that this drawing placed at an EMPTY playground also suggests that children again are more content sitting on the couch rather than going outside and being active. Technology is slowly becoming America's new parent, we just don't realize it yet...Scary?