Visitng D.C. 2011

My grandparents lived in D.C. for about 6 years while I was a kid. I remember vauge details from our field trips around D.C., but at the time I didn't know the history behind everything. This past spring break, I took a trip up to D.C. with a few girlfriends to escape my life for a few days. We just so happen to be visiting on St. Patties so there were some really cool events going on. Our first stop was Georgetown Cupcakes, OF COURSE! What better way to put a smile on my face than cupcakes.

The line was insane!! It wrapped around the corner.

...but well worth the wait! :)

Next, it was time to walk off cupcakes and do a little sight seeing.

Our first stop was the Washington Monument. It was soo cool in person. It's hard to believe how many historical events have taken place close to the monument.

Next stop was the Korean War Memorial.

The Vietnam Memorial was absolutely incredible!

So many school field trips were hogging up the Lincoln Memorial, but we finally got in for a closer look.

Honest Abe!

And last but certainly not least, The White House complete with a green fountain for St. Pattys! I remember going on the Christmas tour inside TWH when I was a kid and loving the Christmas trees and one of the rooms, I think it was the red room or something like that.

After we toured D.C. I ended up spraining my ankle at the National Aquarium. At least it happened after we went sight seeing, right?

The Story of My High School Sweetheart



On the first day of high school in 2004, my girlfriends and I met an awesome group of people that instantly helped us fit in more than most freshman. Us girls decided we would go watch some of the boys practice before a football game. After the game, we met up with our friends and some of the senior guys... that is when I met Kevin. Kevin and I hit it off instantly. We were the best of friends within a few months of meeting each other and soon we started "going steady". After a wonderful few months, Kevin told me that he had planned to join the Marines and I was devastated! Before I knew it, it was time for him to ship out to bootcamp. We were able to keep in contact every so often while he was in training for 3 months. Three months came and went and he finally go to come home for a brief amount of time before shipping out to fight in the war. The adjustment period was brutal. It was very hard for us to communicate while he was in Afghanistan, but when we did, we talked for hours upon hours. He couldn't tell me much, but I could tell whatever was going on was deeply affecting him. After his first tour, he got to come home for a little while and I could tell he wasn't happy. He said that he had never seen so much devastation and destruction. It was one of the scariest things he had ever been through, but he had to suck it up and return to duty, for 3 more years. At the end of his second tour, his tank rolled over a mine and blew up. He suffered a really bad concusion, burns to his leg, and a broken foot. His friend in the tank with him... didn't make it. After the loss of his friend, everything I had ever known about Kevin was gone. His PTSD turned him into a completely different person. Trying to deal with that and the lack of communication really took a toll on me and I ended things with him. I felt terrible, but I had to do it. He told me he felt even more alone than he already was. A few months went by and I started getting letters and voicemails from him saying he felt suicidal and couldn't stand life any longer. I was absolutely terrified so I contacted his sister. We had never been the closest of friends, but this brought us together. We started sending him care packages and letters of encouragement to get him through the rest of his time in the Marines. A few months before he was due to leave for good, he contacted me on Facebook and we caught up on how he was doing. It seemed like he was a shell of who he used to be. He said he still had not recovered from his PTSD and probably never will. Some of the things he saw and went through will haunt him for the rest of his life and he did it for us. I know this isn't in interview format, but Kevin and I aren't close anymore, as his change in personality really put a strain on our friendship. I will never forget those four years of my life that I spent being so close and attached to a Marine and all of the stories he told me. It was very scary, but I couldn't be more proud of him and what he did!

OORAH!

Making Pre-Industrial Objects

I have actually picked my own fruits and veggies several times recently... The most interesting has to be sneaking into a corn field to "borrow" some corn to make a costume out of. It had just rained so the corn field was absolutely disgusting! I definitely wore the wrong shoes. Anyways, it was hard to tell if the corn was even ready because I am not a farmer, but we decided to proceed into unknown territory. Oh ya did I mention we didn't have anything to get the corn off the stalk? Ya that was interesting... We basically had to break the corn off of the stalk by using our body weight, haha. Once we filled up our little baggy we ran like the wind. (We didn't know you could buy corn in the husk at the grocery store until after the fact.) We also didn't know corn had hair!

Ewwwww!

After we finally got the husks off, we came to find out that corn is juicy. Needless to say, cutting the corn off the of the cob was an interesting and messy experience. We ended up covering a bra in the corn to wear to a costume party. My friend went as the band Korn.

My Visit to a Historical Site

My mom just bought a lake house in Huntsville and I have been making weekly trips up there to help her move and decorate. I always see the General Sam Houston Statue on the way, but I have never stopped to get a closer peak. Last weekend, I finally decided to check it out. It looks MUCH bigger when you are standing close to it. It is sitting on a huge granite block to keep people from climbing up on it and touching or defacing the statue. Come to find out, it's the largest statue of an American hero and the artist actually has a studio in The Heights. Sam Houston was a senator, governor, and leader of the Texas Revolution. He was a very controversial character, but did some ballsy things in his time. That is why the city of Houston is named after him. He also has many monuments and memorials in his honor. It's crazy how huge and how long this sculpture took to create!

Groovy Baby

Upon browsing through my mom's old dresses, I came across this gem from the 70's! (As you can see I went a little crazy trying on a bunch of her outfits.) I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to restore an old item. I had to take a picture in a mirror, but the bottoms of the pants are flared and they are super high waisted. She said she wore this outfit on her 18th birthday! What a fox ;) haha. I definitely didn't wear anything close to this for my 18th. I actually wouldn't mind wearing this outfit out just for fun one night... My mom let me take it home with me so I had to alter it. My mom has much longer legs than I do, so I had to hem the pants a tad. I also had to make a makeshift shoulder pad because the right one was missing. You can kind of tell it's much puffier than the left, whoops! Sometimes I wish I lived back in the 70's and 80's... so much fun!

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

I grew up with very busy parents so I spent my entire day with a housekeeper/nanny. She had just come from Mexico not too long before we scooped her and her son up. Being a nanny, she had to cook us kiddos all of our meals. She definitely had some misses, but her Mexican desserts were always my favorite. Being half Mexican myself, it was cool getting to learn more about my culture through my nanny. She has been with us for 17 years now! Of course, now she only comes once a week to tidy up my mom's house. One of my favorite desserts she used to make for us was sopapillas! They were sooooo good! I decided to try out a recipe that combines sopapillas AND cheescake :) It came out so yummy. I don't have pictures as I tried this out some time ago, but this is what they look like.

:)

I will be making these to bring to class on Wednesday.



Ingedients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese... I add an extra 4 ounces.
• 2 (8 ounce) tubes refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (Pillsbury brand)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

Directions:

Using a greased 9 x 13 baking pan, unroll one package of refrigerated crescent rolls. Line the bottom of the pan and flatten, pinching seams together as you go.

In a medium bowl, add together the cream cheese, sugar and extract. Mix til well blended. Spread mixture over the crescent rolls.

Unroll the other can of crescent rolls and place on top of cream cheese mixture.

Pour one stick of melted butter over the top and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, eat at room temperature or serve chilled. Don't forget to drizzle with honey! Refrigerate any leftovers.

Camping... Sort Of

Camping primitively... oh boy! I am not a fan of all that nature has to offer, especially deep in the heart of Texas, so I decided to grab my best friend and camp in my car. Haha! We only lasted 3 hours, but I still consider that a success since we didn't have the a/c on and the sunroof was open to let in "nature".

Exhibit A: This was around 3 AM and the flash blinded us, haha. We packed some drinks and snacks in a lunchbox which is "primitive" for me because I am a kitchen snob! I don't even use the microwave as everything I make that requires heat must be made in the oven or on the stove. We decided to camp in mid-March so that it wouldn't be too hot and sticky, hence the snuggies in the back seat :) All in all, camping in the car wasn't so bad because we could listen to music, but it was very uncomfortable.