Where I Would Like to be Right Now...

I would love to be at the Florida house right now. 

My parents are down there now, and I'm very jealous. Fall is one of my favorite times there. Perfect sunsets, amazing weather, good sales at the outlets...

I really miss it. 

I haven't been there since Spring Break, and our family hasn't been there together in two years. We were supposed to go last Christmas, but instead Mary and I got stuck in NYC and the fam was there without us. 

I'm really excited that we are all 5 going together after Christmas, along with the cousins--Merd, Malone, and Em!

If I could choose anywhere to be right now, it would be on Lake Harris in Florida with the parents. It would be sunset, and we'd be in sweatpants and t-shirts out on the lake with "Just the Way You Are" playing on the radio.

Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas

I made these black bean and corn enchiladas for dinner tonight.

(Picture from Betty Crocker where I got the recipe.)

Anyways, they were so easy. Just a few ingredients, combine, roll into enchiladas, and bake.

The recipe doesn't call for it, but you could add chicken if you were up to it. The only reason I cook without meat is because it takes a whole, long step out of the process.  Unless I'm cooking for other people, I usually eat meatless and get meat when I eat out. I don't have anything against meat except that it takes too long.

For my enchiladas, I really didn't follow the recipe at all. We already had some black bean dip with corn, tomatoes, onions, and red peppers, so I combined that with green chiles, a little enchilada sauce and a cup of cheese for the filling. Then I rolled it into the tortillas, topped with enchilada sauce and cheese and baked for 30 minutes.

Nat made some guacamole that is really good and easy--3 avocados, some tomato, some onion, splash of lemon juice, pepper, splash of olive oil, and Goya Adobo seasoning (the secret ingredient that is no longer a secret).

I'm not much of a measurer, so I just did everything to how I wanted it to taste. It takes out a lot of dishes and cuts some time out.

That's our dinner! Along with blue chips and the new, old Dr. Pepper with real sugar (my fave)!

Weird or Fun?

Jessie told me about some girls she met in the park the other day. There were two girls about our age who looked a lot like us, and they were sitting at a picnic table with a sign that said, "Want to talk? We'll listen!" The girls had lemonade and were willing to listen to anyone.

The girls just asked Jessie if she wanted them to listen and not say anything at all, or to listen and pray at the end, or to listen and then give some advice at the end.

My thoughts on this...

Am I weird for thinking that it would be really fun to listen to random people like that?

I would love it.

Spring Break Plans

It seems a little early to be thinking about Spring Break, but it's time to make plans. I have a few options, and I'm having a really hard time deciding.

1. I could go on Senior Chi O spring break. I'm pretty sure they are going on a cruise in the Caribbean for 6 days. It would be really nice and it's not too expensive. It would be fun to be with my pledge class for one last time before we graduate.

2. My small group is going on a mission trip, probably to Haiti. I would love to go, and Haiti has been on my heart since I got back, so I think it would be really exciting to go back. But, the problem is that it's a lot more expensive than the cruise, and I hate asking people for money, and I would have to raise $1200 after raising money in July. Plus Mary is going, so that's raising double the amount of money from all the same people.

(I think about this girl, Orlancia, all the time.)

Oh, how I miss them all! 

Looking at these pictures really makes me want to go back.

If I'm honest, looking at these pictures makes me really not want to go back: 

Our sleeping quarters and the sweaty/nasty/gross/dirty feeling are the only things holding me back. Oh yeah, and being a little scared of Haiti, too! But I could get past that. How selfish am I being?

3. Anyways, lastly, I could go to the Florida house with who knows who. This would be extremely inexpensive, and very relaxing. This choice seems like the easy way out. It requires the least amount of effort and planning, which is why I lean towards that one. But the thing is--I can always go to Florida, for the rest of my life probably. I can't always go with my pledge class on a cruise or with my small group to Haiti.

What should I do?

Any recommendations?

The Current Project

My bathroom was this gross really bright pinkish-peach color. I didn't think it was that bad when I first saw it, but after using it for a couple of months, I hated it. It was so bright that my face looked pink in the mirror. The pink reflected out into the hall. It was everywhere, and it had to go away. I didn't have enough money to buy paint though. It was $30, and I couldn't spare that much at the time. 

So, I went home and I asked Daddy Bear to get me some paint from his hardware store. I didn't care what color, I just wanted it to be light. 

I got a very light blue color, and I went to work when I got back to my house. I've done two coats in two weeks.

All I have left is the trim. And I just have one reason for that. To store a paint brush that has been used with Latex paint, I remember Mother Dear telling me to wrap it in saran wrap and then freeze it. 

Apparently she didn't really tell me to freeze it, because I got it out of the freezer a week later and it's definitely frozen. I was thinking that latex paint was like alcohol or something and that it didn't freeze when in the freezer. 

Anyways, that's false. I was dumb. Do not freeze your paint brushes if you want them to stay usable. Your choices are to wrap them in saran and leave them out or to wash them out in the sink with water. 

Now, I need to go buy a new paint brush to finish the bathroom. But really, even without I like the way it is now so much better. I wish I'd taken a before picture. This is what it looks like now, until I invest in an unfrozen brush. 

It makes me feel so much better... It's now very calming and plain and CLEAN. No gross streaks on the walls anymore. I cleaned it so many times before this, and it never felt clean. Though the shower still feels dirty and the sink has dark spots in it that won't go away, I know the walls are clean, so that's a start. 

I'll take what I can get! Our house is a work in progress, but I don't mind. At least we have a house! 

I Did It!

I survived!

My first backpacking trip ever is over and I made it out alive. I questioned if I was going to make it out alive at about 3 miles up the mountain.

Geo was a good one to go with though. He told me we could turn around if I wanted to. (My hip was hurting really bad.) I said we should just go ahead because I'd feel bad if he didn't get to see the top, and I didn't want to like ruin the whole trip for him. So, on we went.

Really, on they went. I stayed a good 20 or more feet behind them at all times.

(This was took as I was walking, not stopped. Can you even see Geo up there?)

This happened because...

1. The eye doc took my glasses from me to get a stronger prescription, so I couldn't see the stumps unless I looked closely. And...

2. I was scared I was going to re-sprain my ankles if I tripped on a stump or rock. It does look better than it used to:

But it is still really sore and tender sometimes. And I wore this to keep from rolling it again. So, I rolled it a couple of times but not bad at all. The brace kept it stable. Mostly. 

3. I'm just a slow walker. I don't think I used to be, but now I'm really cautious after the accident.

4. I got really distracted by the trees and the leaves and the noises, but everyone else just trekked on through, just staring at the ground. That probably helped because at every moment, they couldn't see the constant, steep, uphill trail that we were on.

5. That knowledge of the constant, steep, uphill trail just made me go slower because I knew it would be a while (as in 4 hours) of constant, steep uphill. 

6. I kept an eye out for bears stalking us, so I had to constantly be turning around. You could say that I was paranoid of bears.

Okay, so anyways, it was really fine that I was in the back the entire time. It was nice to be able to go my own pace and not be rushed by someone walking on my tail. And I got to think about whatever I wanted to without being disturbed by others. I thought about why "shoe" makes the "ooo" sound when no other word with an "oe" ending makes that sound. Think about it: toe, moe, doe, foe, woe. But we discovered: canoe!

[Disclaimer: Geo really did try to wait on me. He would stop until I caught up, and then about 30 seconds later he'd be ahead and have to wait on me again. He's a very fast walker.]

We got to the trailhead, which was 3 miles and over 3 hours past the camp site. We started walking up it, only .5 miles left to the top. The entire time we hiked, I really wanted to turn around, and I didn't even care that we were almost there. Geo came to my rescue. His legs had been cramping for almost the entire trail up, and they got so bad at the almost-top of Gregory Bald that I could see them convulsing, and we turned around! 

Although I felt bad for him, I was so ready to get back to the camp site where it wasn't so cold, I could take off my brace and SIT DOWN. We got down the trail in less than an hour probably.

Here began my favorite part... A fire, some food, sweatpants, hot chocolate and a chair.

We ate some food out of a bag. It was chicken teriyaki with rice. All we did was add some boiling water and let it sit for a few minutes and it was done. We didn't let it cook long enough, and the chicken was crunchy from the freeze-dried-ness. I was hungry and ate it anyways.

I barely slept because I kept hearing bears all night long. I prayed a whole lot. I woke Geo up, and he told me that it was just Derek snoring. That was a relief.

I was relieved when it was daylight and time to get up. I got a good amount of sleep, but I woke up a lot and was very stressed out that I was awake in the middle of the night and could hear all the noises. 

We drank some spiced tea, and enjoyed the guy's fire and then packed up for home. The two miles back to the car took forever, and this site was a joyous moment:

The car!!! 

We had a beautiful ride home and stopped at Pizza Hut which was amazing! We were so hungry. We got home and I was so glad.

Overall, it was a good experience. It was kind of like Haiti--when I was there, I didn't want to be there; but now that I look back on it, I wouldn't mind going back.

Yum!

Mary and I made this white bean chicken chili for dinner tonight and it was delicious. You should try it sometime. It's quick and easy, not many ingredients. Click below for the recipe and a cute cooking blog that always makes me hungry!

The Dashing Dish