In a constant obsession to not wind up on the show “Hoarders” (we’ll discuss that later) I found myself digging through my boxes of things previously deemed ‘of great value’ a few weekends back and happened to find a dozen or so cassette tapes that I’ve held on to for at least fifteen and maybe even twenty years.  Most of them were quickly thrown away with the knowledge that I owned the cd or mp3s of that album and didn’t need the cassette anymore.  However, there were three tapes that were more than just the standard cd precursor but had once been a mixtape created at some time in my childhood.  Each in their own way no longer played whether the tape had been torn or stretched or content erased but that didn’t stop me from wondering what treasures each had once held.  Back before the Internet, Napster or even cds, musical life in a small town was not one of abundant options.  But for a while we did have a radio station that tried to play contemporary music and I remember always having a blank tape in the tape deck in case a song I liked and might want to hear again would come on.  And if the tape was really good… you’d share it with your friends or play it in the car.

With the awesomeness of those mixtapes lost in time, my brother provided his own slice of musical gifting in the form of mix cd when I was home for the Super Bowl.  Teary-eyed and not wanting to have to say good-bye and head back to ‘real life’, I graciously accepted the disc he handed me as I was leaving.  He’d previewed bits of it for us as we’d driven around throughout the weekend, but it wasn’t until I was in my office the next the day that I truly got to experience his collection of Winter songs. That was three weeks ago, and I’ve yet to stop listening to his mix since.  It’s now a playlist of each of my iPods (yeah, yeah I have more than one and less than six) and before I share any of the rest of the music I’ve been listening to this past year, you need to hear this modern day mixtape.  With sixteen different artists there’s no expectation that you’ve heard them all, but trust me, the rest of their stuff is as good as the songs in this post.  So if you’re itching for something new and don’t know what to buy, let this be my suggestion list.

P.S. – Thanks, Zac.  You truly are the best musical (and every thing else) brother ever!

Wilco – Jesus, Etc: Go buy Yankee Foxtrot Hotel and then every other album of theirs’ you can find.  Trust me.

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Whiskeytown – Sit and Listen To The Rain: My Ryan Adams love knows no bounds especially when it comes to the old Whiskeytown stuff. “Sit around, dream away the place I’m from.  Used to feel so much, now I just feel numb” Yeah, that good.

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TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me: More likely than not you first heard this song advertising the 2010 Winter Olympics and not from TVOTR’s 2006 Return to Cookie Mountain.  That doesn’t mean you should pick up the latter.

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Sun Kil Moon – Carry Me Ohio: I’m pretty sure Zac gave me his beloved disc so that I’d finally listen to this song he’d recommended weeks before.  But somehow in the hubbub of life, I’d lost his recommendation and grown tired of googling to figure out that weirdly named some from that weirdly named band.  And of course, pride would not allow me to ask again.  Luckily, he acted with pity on me and provided this gem and highlight of the album.  My students may have grown tired of it after three weeks of constant play, but you should hear that stuff they force me to listed to.  ::shudders::

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Oh Valentine’s day, you are a much different day depending on whether or not a person is single or in a relationship, and I’ve been in a relationship for over a year now… fourteen months and change to be exact   And as sweet as the chocolates and flowers that I received on this special day were, I was more than a bit taken a back at how perfectly suited the other gifts were for me.  Now if I only I could have convinced C to use the mandolin hand guard and not cut the tip of his finger.  Boys.

Red Kitchenaid Mandolin

Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” dvd

Orange-Berry Crumble

• 3 cups oats
• 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 Tb
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp of cinnamon
• zest of two oranges
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 40 oz of frozen berries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.  In a large bowl, toss together oats, 1/2 cup flour, pecans (I used pecans that were already covered in cinnamon and sugar from a local orchard), brown sugar, 1/2 of the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and zest of 1 of the oranges.  Add butter and gently press with fingers to incorporate into mixture; set aside.
2. Place berries (I used 16 oz of raspberries, 16 oz of blackberries and 8 oz of blueberries) in a 12-inch cast iron skillet.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, zest of second orange, and 2 TB of flour and gently toss.  Scatter oat mixture over berries.  Transfer to oven and bake until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden about 35-45 minutes.

(Taken from Country Living magazine and tweaked a bit to my taste.)

Homemade Chicken Potpie

• 2 Tb unsalted butter
• 1/2 medium white onion, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 medium carrots, sliced into 1/4 inch-thick coins
• 2 ribs celery, sliced
• 2 baby Yukon gold potatoes, sliced
• 3 Tb all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups roasted chicken breast meat
• 3/4 cup of frozen peas and pearl onions
• 1/2 cup of frozen sweet corn
• 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 (9-inch) store-bought pie crust
• 1 egg, beaten
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

1. You have two options for the roasted chicken in this recipe.  The first is to buy a grocery-store roasted chicken and just use all of the meat from it.  However, I roasted my own chicken breasts and LOVED the taste when I made this pot pie.  To do what I did, take 3 large split breasts that still have skin and pat them until they are completely dry.  Generously, salt and pepper, add a pat or two of butter and add a sprig of thyme to each breast under the skin. Drizzle the skin with a tsp of olive oil and roast all three on a jelly roll pan at 400° F for 45 minutes or until chicken is juicy and almost cooked.  Chicken may be 5-10 minutes from being completely cooked but remember that if will finish cooking in the pot pie. Once chicken is cooled, chop into large chunks and set aside.
2. Heat butter in 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, and garlic and cook until carrots and potatoes begin to soften.  Season generously with salt and pepper from the start.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in flour.  Cook 1 minute. Stir in heavy cream and broth, using a whisk, until combined.  Stir in chicken, peas and onions, corn and 2 thyme sprigs and bring mixture to a boil.  Make sure to taste mixture and season accordingly.Cook mixture on stove until all ingredients are heated thoroughly.  Remove from heat.
4. Gently roll out store-bought pie crust until it reaches 12 inches in diameter.  Place dough atop chicken mixture and brush with egg; cut vents in pastry.  Transfer skillet to over and bake until crust is browned and flaky, about 35 minutes at 400° F.

(Modified from Country Living recipe)

It shouldn’t be a shock to me that it’s been almost a year since I had the time and focus to spend a few moments contemplating my life or even sharing the details of what I’ve been up to with you, but it is. Part of being the perfectionist that I am means that if I can’t finish a task exactly as I had planned, I just won’t finish it. Case in point, blogging.

Somewhere along the way I came up with this great plan to blog once a day everyday. Yet, when there just wasn’t time to meet that goal, I stopped altogether. But I missed it. I missed sharing about the good times, venting about the bad and evaluating the everyday moments of life. So even though it’s been eleven months since I’ve flexed my fingers and utilized this lil piece of the Internet I call my own, I’m lowering my posts per day standard and finding my way back here again. Hopefully, this time around I’ll grant myself enough mercy to skip a few days here and there.

This is one of my favorite student workers. I have no idea what she was doing or thinking (it sounds like Beyonce’s Halo in the background), but whatever you do today watch this video from 1:45-2:00. It’ll make your day.

Yesterday was my first Easter that I didn’t spend with at least one member of my family. In order to make my own traditions and keep from being too homesick, I decided to make one of my favorite non-traditional comfort foods. It’s simple and easy, and the best part is the leftovers.
Curried Chicken with Veggies

* Mild Curry Paste
* 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts chopped into 1 inch cubes
* Bag of frozen green beans
* Bag of frozen crinkle-cut carrots
* 1 can of coconut milk
* 2 Tb vegetable oil
* 2 Tb fish sauce
* 2 cups of jasmine rice

Begin by rinsing rice in cool water until water is runs clear through rice.  Cook rice  according to package or following these instructions.  Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes and add chicken to 1 Tb of hot oil in wok or large skill.  Cook chicken completely.  At the same time reheat vegetables in an additional pot until veggies are cooked through.  Combine veggies into chicken and add fish sauce, coconut milk, and curry to taste.  (I usually add 1/3 to 1/2 of jar.)  Cook for 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and coated chicken and veggies.  Serve over rice and enjoy!

I give you … The Peep Show.

I love working with college kids, but they have the most germ-ridden people on the planet.  I know it comes from shoving hundreds of them into a dorm, reducing their sleep, increasing their stress, and introducing various pathogens into the mix.  Yet despite the gallon sized hand sanitizer we keep in the office, they’ve gotten me sick twice this semester.  No matter how I try to avoid the sickies or ones recently out of quarantine within two to three days I’m just as sick as they were. Pretty soon I’m going to build a bubble around my desk Jake-Gyllenhaal style. That’ll show them.

I’m not sure if it’s genetics, stress, that one time when I rolled a pickup truck and was hit in the back of the head with the car jack, hormones, or that men’s discus that hit me in the head during practice one day in high school, but for the last 5-6 years I get a migraine every other month or so. It’s taken quite a while to pinpoint what triggers them and how to get them under control before I’m stuck in bed for 25-30 straight hours.  Just in case you find yourself in similar circumstances,  I thought I’d share a few tricks with you.

1) Sleep… sleep… sleep… sleep – If sleep is not an option, head to step #2.

2) Excedrin Migraine – Never before has there been in OTC drug that is as phenomenal as this one. Acetaminophen, aspirin AND caffeine in a gel coated gift from above.

3) Water – Most days I try to drink at least a gallon to gallon and a half of water, but when my head feels like it might explode, water is a necessity to survival.

4) White noise- Back in college Sarah introduced me to David Miles Huber’s Ocean Voyages.  Since that time, every iPod I’ve ever owned always has this soothing 2 track album on it.  Whether I’m at home or work, I pop my headphones in and let the ocean sounds soothe my brain.

5) Darkness – Curtains and sunglasses are my best friend when the light is too much to handle.  Sure, I might be made fun of, but I’d rather wear sunglasses inside than be puking in my work trashcan.  It’s a simple choice, really.

I’m not sure why or what caused it. But from the moment I woke up until my head finally crashed onto the pillow, I didn’t feel like I mattered. It’s might be cliche, but it was such a “Something’s Missing” day. There was no reason to feel forgotten. I have a family who loves me, some of the greatest friends a girl could ask for and a wonderful boyfriend. But sometimes there is a short circuit between your brain and your heart. No matter how logical and sensible your brain is, when your heart hurts… your heart hurts. And no amount of reassurance and verbalization of your acceptance and belonging in this life can heal the self-perpetuated heartache known as insignificance.

These are the days where you pray for rain and a day off from civilization. Instead, it was a normal work day. A day where I had to interface with all of the usual people while wondering if I meant something to them. It’s morbid, I know. But who hasn’t wondered how people would react if you weren’t around. Now don’t get me wrong I wasn’t pondering jumping off a cliff. I’m just being overly dramatic…typical.

So here’s to hoping tomorrow will be better. That once again my brain and heart will talk to each other and leave the rest of me out of their battles.

Since it has been almost seven weeks since I had had a spare moment to kidnap my favorite munchkins and take them out for an afternoon on the town, Cory and I headed over to the King household this afternoon after church and grabbed the girls to go see Monsters VS. Aliens for J’s birthday. I should have known that every experience with them has some amount of drama, but today took the cake. From the start the middle munchkin had her nose out of joint and refused to smile or even look at Cory. (She’s quite the jealous 4-year old.) Instead she stopped singing and just scowled at him, every time he turned to look at her in the car.

Once we got to the theatre, she decided to turn her wrath on me because her dad and I had decided they didn’t need popcorn. It took everything within me to not laugh at her when she told me, “I’m so mad at you that I can’t even look at you right now.” Wonder where she’s heard that? But once the movie began, she quickly forget her anger and crawled up in my lap. After this minor, popcorn-free meltdown in the movie theatre, I thought we had survived the worst until I found our lil miss thing was ordering Cory to ‘go home’ every time I wasn’t within earshot. Apparently, when I’m not in the room, she’s the boss. Let’s just say her mom and dad were not thrilled with her treatment of C, but by the end of the evening, she had decided to like Cory again and all was right in the world. Just in case you’ve wondered how mean a 4 year-old could possibly be… I’m including a photo of the look she was giving Cory. She’s quite a stinker.

Two Christmas ago, one of my favorite gifts was a year round quilt that my mom had mad for me. The quilt is one of the coolest I have ever seen especially for an apartment because there are twelve smaller quilts that can be hung in the frame of the large quilt depending on the season. So far I have seven of the smaller quilts and as mom finishes each one it becomes my new favorite. Today, she sent me a pix message sneak peak of my newest spring quilt. I can’t wait to get it! Don’t you love the hot pink rain boots?!?!

Sunday on the way home from Cory’s mom’s house, we stopped my my favorite Phoenix family’s place to meet the newest addition to their precious family, Bella.  The thing I love most about this family is how comfortable you feel as soon as you walk in the front door and how much like family they feel like to me.  M and A (the parents) have three beautiful munchkins that are more than a handful, especially the middle munchkin Mad.  This lil girl is one of the most adorable toddlers I have ever met, but don’t let her curls fool ya.  She’s the big girl in charge of this family (a place I understand).  You never can tell if she’s gonna cuddle with you or throw a football off of her brother’s forehead.  She’s a perfect combination of mom and dad, and I can’t help but adore her.   Without realizing it our hour visit had stretched into a over four hours, and it was time to head home.  We said goodbye and promised to see each other soon… a promise I plan on keeping.