New Job and a 9-Person Dinner

So i figured while I'm waiting for the cake I'm making for a friend's birthday (Happy Birthday Sara!) to finish baking I would send a little shout out to my blog :)

I got a new job! I had to leave Kids Klub after one and a half years because my class schedule next semester won't work with their schedule :( I loved my time there, but I'm ready for a change of venue and coworkers. Now I'm working with a country club as a hostess for their restaurants. I start training this weekend, so wish me luck! :) I kinda fell into this job and I'm so grateful for it! Now I don't have to run around town asking places if they're hiring like I was planning on having to do.

Hmm... whatever happened to my goal about cooking? This semester has been crazy busy, but I did make dinner for the missionaries (5 of them), my two home teachers, and Leanna. It was spaghetti, alfredo, chicken breasts, salad, garlic bread, and pink lemonade. Leanna bought some of the stuff, but I ended up putting it all together while she cleaned the house for our guests (and ourselves) :) I cheated a little though: the chicken breasts were precooked and frozen, the garlic bread just had to be heated, and all I did for the salad was put it in a bowl. But I did watch the noodles boil, heat up the sauces to go on top of them, add the last of my frozen broccoli to the alfredo, and stir the lemonade powder :) As well as clean off the kitchen table and set everything out. It turned out well, it was edible and we only had a bit of spaghetti and garlic bread left over.

Banana Bread, Muffin Top

I bought bananas a while back for a camping trip I took for my Advanced Scuba certification, but they were too green for the longest time so I hadn't eaten them. And I decided banana bread would be the perfect idea for these lonely bananas! [Well actually I had to buy new bananas... because I froze the others in hopes to use them in a smoothie, but they wouldn't peel after being frozen, so i put them back in the fridge... let's just say I know a sure fire way to kill a banana haha]

Well there's my B-E-A-UTIFUL loaf of banana bread :) It kinda muffin topped over the sides, but cooked pretty nicely and tastes delicious!
------------------------
I made two more a few days after this one, and they didn't muffin top because I used the same recipe but just poured it into two tins instead of one. So amazingly good!

New Routine

So I've been trying to wake up at 7am every morning, it works better some days than others haha. I've also started being more consistent in reading from my Ensign every night (I'm behind a few months, so I'm not reading the current issue) and from my Book of Mormon every morning after I wake up. I've been really good about reading an article before bed, but reading in the morning has been a bit more difficult as I seem to keep falling back asleep, haha. I'm trying to figure out where the best place to read in the morning is for me, so far my bed's not working! But I'm enjoying the effort I'm putting towards reading more spiritual things each day :)

my stirfry and pasta adventures

So I've had a package of microwavable rice sitting in my pantry since last semester and I had a red bell pepper I was worried would go bad so I decided to make stir fry! I unintentionally bought a head of lettuce (I had meant for it to be cabbage) and chopped it up along with the red pepper and some slices of chicken and put them in the skillet. I cooked the rice and when it was all done I combined them altogether! Now while lettuce is very different from cabbage, it didn't ruin my stir fry in the least :)

Tonight I felt like pasta so I boiled some fettuccine noodles, heated some four cheese alfredo sauce, and threw some chicken and broccoli into a skillet :) It turned out delicious and while Leanna didn't join me in eating it, she said it smelled very good :)

Red, White, and Blue Breakfast

So while this isn't technically cooking, it does involve food so I'm gonna say it anyway :)

Leanna bought cream cheese and bagels this week and told me to help her finish them (thanks Leanna!). So as I was fixing my half of a bagel, I decided to put some raspberry/blackberry preserve/jam/stuff on top. SO delicious! After I made it I noticed how it was white and red and if you put some blueberries on top you'd have the perfect breakfast for the Fourth of July! haha :) So I may have to try that...

A friend told me about another breakfast idea where you make a sandwich with cream cheese and raspberry/blackberry jam/stuff and then french toast the sandwich (dip it in eggs and cook it). She said it's amazing and I am going to HAVE to test it out some time! :)

Dating in the Sea of Life

Life is like being in the sea and we're all trying to keep our heads above water. Sometimes you find a boat with someone, but for whatever reason you either get tossed out to sea or you jump off the boat and you're back to treading water. Dating is this whole process of finding stability and getting tossed out to sea again and again until you find the person who will share their boat with you for eternity. Now you may face rough storms and waves, but you will be together throughout and you won't be tossed out on your own again.

My Ghetto Pizza Rolls

So I wanted something different from peanut butter and honey sandwich for lunch today, so I got some tortillas, put some cheese and pepperoni on them. Put them in the microwave for less than a minute and then put some ranch on them before rolling them up. They were pretty good! :)

Asian Stir Fry

Ingredients:
rice, chicken, bean sprouts, sugar snap peas, baby corn, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, carrots, celery, bamboo, garlic, and stir fry sauce :)

It was delicious!

The wonderful end result :)

And a special thanks goes out to my friend Stephen M. for the ingredient gathering he did which made this dish a lot better than it would have been without him, for his help during the preparation of the food, for his company during the eating of this meal, and for his help with the clean up afterwards!

(Plus he helped me solve my geometry assignment so he gets an A+ in my book for tonight haha)

Cardio Step!

The Student REC Center had a free Cardio Step Mix class this morning, so me and a friend went to try it out. We really enjoyed it! I had never done step before, and the instructor included some kickboxing moves as well. But it was a great start to our morning! :)

So I needed a new watch that I can put on my bike and went to Target to look at what they have. Found a nice $10 one and then HAD to look at the $1 section :) I picked out 5 things to get, go to check out and my total is $1.35--- they were all on sale for even LESS!!! haha. That made my day :)

#58: Kettle

hmm... IHOP is better :)  More options and better food.

I got a turkey club sandwich that was really good, but my fries were drooping. :(

My fried okra was freshly fried and good. I wish that I got gravy with them...

My pancakes were good... but not as good as IHOP's and I didn't have my boysenberry syrup. I put some orange jam on them that was pretty good. Reminded me of orange rolls...

Eh probably wouldn't go back if I was to choose.

Feel the Burn!

Leanna and I went for a run tonight on campus. We circled around the Physics Building and Blocker doing sprints up ramps and stairs and doing lines. We did a few squats and lunges. And as Leanna put it, we felt the burn! haha. It felt incredible! :)

Ooo I'm excited for kickboxing tomorrow!

Kickboxing it hard core!

Last week in my total fitness class we did kickboxing. I'd never done it before, but I liked it. Plus it's something simple that I can do at home on my own :)

My elbow hurts :( I don't really know why... I played ping pong on Friday before Midnight Yell, so maybe that made it sore but I'm not sure. I also have some cuts on my leg above my ankle that I have no idea where I got... I wouldn't mind these things as much if I knew where they came from! haha

Tag Team Pancakes

We made Krusteaz pancakes Sunday morning :) Tag teaming when it came to pouring the mix and flipping the pancakes. Krusteaz is amazing because all it asks for is the mix and water- simple, fluffy, and delicious. It was for a group of friends, and the directions on the package lied about how many pancakes 3 cups of mix will make! haha. It didn't make enough, so we had to mix more :) And the second time around, we had to add more powder so the batter wouldn't be so runny. But they all turned out delicious! With only minor spills on the floor and each other :)

Ooo and if you haven't already done this I'm spreading around my favorite way to eat pancakes- with peanut butter and honey on top! And this time I added sliced bananas to the top and it was delicious :D

The Semester of Pain and Gain

I have to ride my bike across campus two days a week so that I have a chance of getting to my classes on time and back to my car to leave for work on time. My classes are back to back so I also have to pack my lunch and sneak in bites between classes (or during class :D).

I'm taking a total fitness KINE course, so once a week we have our work out day. This past week we worked our core- and I'm feeling it!

I'm also in an advanced/rescue scuba course!!! :D So excited about it, but I'm sure at times it'll work me pretty hard as well.

And then you can't forget that I chase after children 5 times a week for my job, that Leanna and I are walking together whenever we find time to do so, and that I plan to attend volleyball each week.

Also add in the fact that I'm not keeping junk food/desserts in the apartment this semester.

Needless to say I'm gonna be sore for the most part of this Fall, but my body is gonna appreciate all that I'm doing!

Last Week of Freedom

Bow-Tie Tomato Chicken Pasta
On Sunday we got home starving and decided to use what we already had to make a simple dinner. So we cooked mini bow-tie pasta and chicken. We used sun dried tomato alfredo sauce and cut up tomatoes and topped it all with parmesan cheese :) It was delicious and hit the spot!

An Evening Walk
I had gotten very little sleep this weekend (but oh so worth it) so instead of doing our Sunday walk in the morning we did it after our dinner. We walked through campus and I showed Leanna where some of my classes are and where the library is. It was a good half hour walk, but at least we're continuing to make an effort to get out there!

School starts today... it's gonna be hectic!

Riding Against the Wind

Went to volleyball tonight, got to play 2 games (somewhat successfully for my no talent at sports). Came home and just really needed to be on my own, so I got my iPod and bike and went on campus.

It felt amazing being on my bike again (but I really need to put air in my tires...). I rode for only 20 minutes or so because I was paranoid about my tires and I have an early morning tomorrow. But riding did the trick :) Getting my heart pumping and being outside helped me to realize why I wasn't feeling that great tonight and maybe by recognizing why, I can figure out how to prevent/overcome it.

Chicken Wraps and Chicken & Tortellini Salad

Our red, white, and green meal :)

We used recipes from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and were successful in making a delicious meal with leftovers for tomorrow! :)

The prep consisted of cooking the tortellini and chicken, and cutting the veggies.

A simple meal but I'm a big fan of the tortellini salad. It was chicken chunks, tomato, green pepper, tortellini, and Italian salad dressing.

line up!

Despite not waking up as early as we have in the past for our Sunday morning walks, we did go out and do it :) It was a very short walk, about 15 minutes, but we did lines behind a building using the cracks as our turning points. So we got our hearts beating a bit and lost our breath haha.

On Friday, Leanna wasn't in town and I went on a Temple trip with the ward (so amazing!) and afterwards a group of us and others who weren't able to go on the trip went and played sand volleyball and go swimming. I actually played this time! :) And getting in the pool felt great despite the fact that I kept getting attacked and dunked haha.

The elementary schools start up this Monday, so soon those kiddos will be making me run and chase after them all afternoon long! I don't want work to start but I know I'll enjoy it once I go :)

Volleyball y'all :)

The public schools are starting next week, which means so is my job. So this week is training and meeting the new hires. So I've been playing gym games and running around in the hot hot Texas heat for the past 2 days. BUT in keeping with our goal Leanna and I walked around our church building for 30 minutes and added some lunges and squats into the mix as well. Go us! Oh and Leanna played some volleyball while I tried to stay awake and not get hit haha. Today was a tiring day for me for some reason.

3 is a Magic Number

FIRST:
Yesterday we went to the Comal River and WALKED!!! Leanna and I decided to count it towards our exercising because we had to walk to the river and back with our tubes and from the river's end back to the beginning which is about five blocks- with our tubes! But it was a fun trip :)

SECOND:
That night we got home and before we allowed ourselves to relax, we went for a walk through Northgate. Just a short walk in the early evening but it felt good!

THIRD:
This beautiful Sunday morning we walked down Bizzel and walked through the Bonfire Memorial and read about each of the 12 fallen Aggies. Such a peaceful place and a perfect beginning to our Sunday.

Walk #1- to the Century Tree

We walked yesterday morning, leaving our condo around 8am and not returning till 10am. We didn't walk for the full two hours, we walked to campus to the Century Tree and sat and chatted for a lot of the time. But I felt accomplished having actually woken up and gone to campus. We only walked which made me feel like I should jog or do high legs or something, to make it more worth my while- but it was a wonderful start to our Sunday! I came back from it feeling good and proud that we actually did what we had set out to do. I won't be back in our apartment officially for another two weeks, but I think that if we remind each other about our goals we'll actually do them :)

Begining with Fifty-Seven

Here are the restaurants I've already been to (in my two year's of living in this area) before I came up with the idea to visit all the restaurants in my area:
(in alphabetical order)

Antonio's

Applebee's Ben & Jerry's

Blue Baker Boston's

Buffalo Wild Wings

Casa Ole

Cheddar's

Chickfila

Chili's

Coldstone

Cotton Patch Denny's

Domino's Fazoli's Fish Daddy's

Free Birds

Gumby's

Haiku Happy Yogurt

Hebert's Cajan Food

IHOP Jamba Juice

Jin's Asian Cafe Long John Silver's

McAlister's

McDonald's

Must Be Heaven

Old Time Soda Shop

Olive Garden

On The Border

Panda Express

Papa John's

Papa Perez

Pei Wei Asian Diner Pie R Squared (on campus)

Pita Pit

Pizza Hut

Potbelly Sandwich Shop

Raising Cane's

Rosa's Cafe Sbisa (on campus)

Schlotzsky's

Shake's

Sodolak's

Sonic

Souper Salad Spoons

Starbucks

Subway

Taco Bell

Taco Cabana

Taste of China

Texas Roadhouse

TGI Friday's

Whataburger

Wings N More

According to the online Yellow Pages there are 545 restaurants near my area. So far I've been to 57 :)

Let's Do It!

In the past 2 years I've used this blog as just an archive of my favorite quotes, but as of now I have THREE goals I want to accomplish this semester (and perhaps continue to do- but I'm starting with a semester) and I think a good way to stay motivated is to record how I'm doing :)

ONE: Restaurants

I have this idea that instead of visiting the same restaurants over and over again, I want to eat at all the restaurants in my area at least once. The fast food joints, the chain restaurants, and the hole in the wall's. I'll keep track of the places I've visited and perhaps give a review of whether I'd consider going back.

TWO: Cooking

My roommate and I have decided that starting once a week we will prepare a legit meal. Both of us do not have much practice in the art of cooking, so it should be an adventure :) We'll decide on the recipe for the week, buy the ingredients, and prepare the meal. I'll keep progress of how it goes concerning our cooking skills and the recipes we use.

THREE: Walking

My roommate and I are not the athletic types, but feel we want to be active in some way to keep ourselves healthy. We have decided to walk at least 3 times a week (start with small goals). This might move up to more times in the week, we might alternate between walking in the morning and walking at night, or we might move up to jogging or biking. We'll just try to keep it up and see where time takes us :) . This semester I'll be taking a swimming and a scuba diving advanced rescue course, and I walk/bike to all my classes already, but adding an additional time of day for exercise I think will be a good thing.

Wish me luck! :)