A poem....

This poem was posted on threemanycooks and I had to share it with you all.
It reminds me of high school.
It reminds me of now.

I always have these feelings that something is going to happen and it does. I'm able to read people and have a pretty good idea on what choice they are about to make. I don't think it has anything to do with supernatural powers but I do believe it has everything to do with how in-tune I feel with my body.

I know my body well. I try to treat it well and with respect. I listen to what she is telling me and I respond accordingly.

I wasn't always like that. I used to put my poor body and soul through hell over and over again. During those times I had no clue what my body was trying to tell me. I had no emotions except for anger.

Now that I am a bit older and a tiny bit wiser I know to listen. I know to take those 2 seconds to feel what should be done.

I am an Emotional Creature
by Eve Ensler
I love being a girl.
I can feel what you’re feeling
as you’re feeling it inside
the feeling
before.

I am an emotional creature.
Things do not come to me
as intellectual theories or hard-shaped ideas.

They pulse through my organs and legs
and burn up my ears.

I know when your girlfriend’s really pissed off
even though she appears to give you what
you want.

I know when a storm is coming.

I can feel the invisible stirrings in the air.

I can tell you he won’t call back.

It’s a vibe I share.

I am an emotional creature.

I love that I do not take things lightly.

Everything is intense to me.

The way I walk in the street.

The way my mother wakes me up.

The way I hear bad news.

The way it’s unbearable when I lose.

I am an emotional creature.

I am connected to everything and everyone.

I was born like that.

Don’t you dare say all negative that it’s a
teenage thing
or it’s only only because I’m a girl.

These feelings make me better.

They make me ready.

They make me present.

They make me strong.

I am an emotional creature.

There is a particular way of knowing.

It’s like the older women somehow forgot.

I rejoice that it’s still in my body.

I know when the coconut’s about to fall.

I know that we’ve pushed the earth too far.

I know my father isn’t coming back.

That no one’s prepared for the fire.

I know that lipstick means
more than show.

I know that boys feel super-insecure
and so-called terrorists are made, not born.

I know that one kiss can take
away all my decision-making ability
and sometimes, you know, it should.

This is not extreme.

It’s a girl thing.

What we would all be
if the big door inside us flew open.

Don’t tell me not to cry.

To calm it down

Not to be so extreme

 I love being a woman and all that entails!

Yummy Yummy dinner!

This is what I do when I have an evening to myself.

I create delicious meals that are enough for two but meant for one.

That means if someone shows up I could share but if they don't show, oh man, then I get to eat it ALL!
This particular dish was very easy and very fast, all together about 20 minutes or so.

I'm not very good at writing down my recipes and in all reality I probably never will be good at it.

For this dinner I only had to spend about $20 at the store and it fed me twice that night as well as lunch the next day. I adapted it from another blog I love- http://www.autumnwades.blogspot.com/

Ingredients needed-

• Salmon- how ever much you want to eat! I cooked two 6oz fillets
• broccoli head- seperated into smaller pieces
• grape or cherry tomatoes- a small pint or little flat works fine
• 4-6 Mushrooms- totally optional and sliced
• 1 shallot- minced
• 4 cloves garlic-minced
• noodles- whole grain rotini works great
• Olive Oil
• 2 Lemons
• Basil
• Sourdough baguette
• I also used some italian herb paste I happened to have in my fridge. You can buy it in the produce isle in a little tube.

1. Preheat oven to 375 F for your salmon and start a pot of water for your noodles. Season salmon with olive oil, salt and pepper, and whatever else you enjoy. (I think I added a sprinkle of garlic powder and a sprinkle of dried dill as well). Next, place salmon, skin side down, in a baking dish lined in foil and then place a few tabs of butter, then basil, then lemon slices on top of the salmon ( I also added a quick splash of white wine into the pan with the fish). Bake 15-20 minutes depending on thickness.
2. While Salmon is baking and water is starting to boil, heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium to large size pan on medium high heat. Add shallots, garlic and mushrooms and stir around until mushrooms start to get soft. Add in tomatoes, turn heat to med-low and cover until tomatoes look ready to burst.  The tomatoes will act as your sauce when they start to burst and get stirred together with everything else.
3. Throw pasta in the salted boiling water and cook to al dente. While that is simmering, slice a few thin slices of bread and coat in olive oil, set aside.
4. Check on tomatoes and season with salt, pepper, italian herbs of your choosing. I squeezed lemon juice in and added a few tablespoons of white wine as well.
5. When noodles are done, use a slotted spoon to transfer directly to the pan with your tomatoes. Use the pasta water to quickly blanch your broccoli until it turns bright green and then add the broccoli to the pan with your noodles. Stir it all together and then add thinly sliced strips of basil. Taste and season more if needed.
6. Grab another pan and place 2 tbsp butter in the pan w/ a tiny bit of olive oil and melt together with a few thin slices of garlic. Place your bread on top of the garlic slices and toast in the skillet. Flip and toast the other side as well.
7. Your salmon should be done now so plate it up and serve with some delish wine and some good convo!

This is totally basic and can be changed to almost any season of the year. In the spring and summer you can add green beans and zukes, winter you can add squashes, would be great with sundried tomatoes and olives. Make it your own and taste it as you go. I change everything everytime I make something just so I can learn what I like most.

Let me know what you guys think if you try it out! I made this about 2 weeks ago and tried to just remember what I did. LOL. Next time I will do better and write it all down while doing it and try to be more organized in writing it out for you guys!

Wheeler update!!

Wheeler is growing up and spoiled as ever! He spends his nights smooshed between me and Cory until he gets sick of me using him as a pillow so then he wiggles to the other side of me and pushes me off my pillow so that he can rest his little head. So spoiled. Now that it is getting colder, he gets wrapped in his own blanket at night too.... an 80 pound dog wrapped up like a burrito. Ridiculous.

He has been way too spoiled lately. He gets better food than we do most nights! I am trying to teach him to cock his head to the side and blink three times for treats! The only problem is it's so damn cute that it kinda encourages begging.

We took him camping with a few friends, their dogs and dirt bikes a few months back. Cory and I got there first and Wheeler loved running with the bikes! A few times he would be fine and not care if Cory took off but then a minute later he would book off to find him. It was very nerve racking! Especially once the other bikes got there. I had to keep pepperoni slices on me to bribe him to stay in the camp! He finally got so worn out he just collapsed. The poor dog who is so stocky he can barely run around the yard is running as fast as the bikes through rocky terrain for upwards of 10 minutes at a time! lol. He was so sore he was literally shaking to stand.

We took him with us for our family picnic as well and what a hassle! He has such horrible seperation anxeity that he freaks out if left alone. He did fine once we got smart adn tied him up with another dog up at the house and away from the commotion.

Maybe it's time for a buddy for the Wheeler dog??

Smile!

I got a pretty new smile yesterday!

Ever since I was little I always had a huge dent in my tooth just left of my front tooth (which in this picture it is the tooth on the right of my right front tooth). Yesterday I got it filed down and filled in!

I can't believe how much more confident I feel with such a minor adjustment! I know no one else has probably even realized the difference but to me, it's like a whole new world!

You know when you have a tiny pimple that no one else sees but it makes you so unsure and uncomfortable? That was me with this tooth except mine didn't go away in a week. It stayed for years!

It's all gone now and I am so much closer to my dream smile! I have a few cleanings left and then I'm off to get them white! I can't wait for the day that I can smile with absolute confidence and gorgeous teeth!

Small teeth and big gums but they will be healthy and white! -the teeth, the gums will be healthy and pink!

Well damn it!

I have to admit something.

I am cheating on all of you.

I have another blog that I update often. I feel like I can open myself up more and use it as more of a therapeutic blog.

I'm sorry. It's like an emotional affair. I won't do you wrong anymore.

At least, I'll try not to.
I am now on Fall break! If you can call it that. It only lasts about 2 weeks and it already seems to be flying by! Spring quarter I pulled off two B's and an A. I think that is pretty good but at the same time I know I didn't even try and that it could have been much better. Summer quarter grades are not in yet but I think it will be the same with two B's and an A.  I know I can do better if I stop procrastinating on everything! I am just going to have to make sure I keep my ass in check so that I can have the highest GPA possible at the end of Fall quarter, my last quarter!
My summer has flown by with no activities that really made it feel like summer. I didn't get to go on a boat, didn't go to the river, nor did I go camping more than once. I didn't get to the Gorge, I didn't have a BBQ, and I feel like I missed all of summer. School three nights a week really took the cake this year!

Fall is trying to come say hello but for whatever reason the heat has been hanging on making it humid, rainy, foggy, sticky, and too hot!

I'm looking forward to decorating for fall, carving pumpkins, costumes and turkey planning! I love this time of year and am ready for it to start!

I normally I love fall weather with the rain and fog. But I like CRISP fall weather! I don't like this humid crap that makes it hard to move with out breaking into a sweat!

Confessions: Take 2

I'm happiest when my world is in order.

I'm not OCD about it but I love things in their proper places at the proper times.

My morning starts out perfect if the bathroom floor is clean of lint, hair, and grime.

I love when my toilet is sparkling white without the pink hard water ring of gooey yuckiness staring up from the bowl.

The cherry on top is when I have a fresh shower liner, sparkling walls and a perfectly scrubbed bathtub to stand in.

Now that is just for the first ten minutes of my day! It gets even better when all my shoes are lined up in the closet waiting for me to pick them while my tops hang above them in perfect order; from tank top to long sleeve and each section by color.

I love opening my sock drawer to perfectly rolled socks and my panty drawer with everything in order.

I hate digging thru piles of clean socks for matching socks.

I hate brushing my teeth while a dirty sink with shavings in it stares up at me. YUCK

Well, what this ends up doing is setting my day up for failure or success. I don't think it should be that way and so I am making steps to start every day on a great note by being more organized!

I got a basket for the bathroom to hold the magazines, bath bombs, baby wipes and tampons that always clutter the back of the toilet and around the floor of the toilet.

I bought a few cheap shower liners at walmart so I can switch them out when the bottom gets grimy.

I'm doing a quick scrub down with the toilet brush when that water ring forms and I'm looking into tablets I can put in the back to soften the water.

I have a huge canister of Lysol wipes that I grab to do quick wipe downs of the counters, walls, and floors.

So far so good.

My kitchen has been rearranged a total of 8 times in the past 1 1/2 years and I think I finally found a way that works for me and feels clean, open and organized.

My living room has been changed around to feel more comfortable and cozy, while my downstairs bathroom is finally put together with a theme and I love it!

I have a dining room table that has become a 'catch-all' and that is my next mission- organize the bills upstairs to my desk and make my table for EATING at!

I feel like I have my house primed to start working for me and feeling like a home. I can't wait for school to be over so books, papers, knives, aprons, and the smell of onions can leave my living room for good!

Now if I can find a way to calm my road rage on my 75 minute commute every morning.....