My Latest Addiction

Once Upon a Time

ABC's Once Upon a Time has given me a new found faith in the future of story structure. All the fairy tales we know and love exist in a different realm, until Regina, Snow White's wicked stepmother, banishes the entire kingdom to our world in the town of Storybrooke, Maine. The story is centered on Emma Swan, a woman who is the first to wander into the town; a place no one could leave or no one new could arrive, until now. The series shows Emma's struggle to fit into Storybrooke when she realizes her son, Henry, which she gave up for adoption at a young age, lives there with the Mayor, who is Regina. We are taken to flashbacks of the fairy tale world to help us see who is who and what level they are connected. The first season is on Netflix and it comes on ABC, Sunday at 7pm CT. 

Baby its cold outside...so let's make some stew!

I am a crock pot addict. They make my life so simple when I'm running around working 40/week and going to school fulltime. Stew can be one of the easiest to make because you are throwing in whatever you have on hand. Here's what I used to make todays brew:

2 cans of chicken broth
2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes
1 can of sliced carrots
1 can of corn
1 can of peas
1/4 of a white onion

Throw all of this together then salt, pepper (I also threw in some mrs. dash) and stir. Then take two chicken beats and place them on top. Throw salt and pepper on the breasts then sprinkle some Worcester sauce to finish. I let it sit on low for eight hours, then took the chicken out,  sliced it, then threw it back it. Voila! Happy eating!

Give Thanks to Blogging

One of my favorite reasons I love blogging is because of all the different recipes you can discover. The options are endless. This week is Thanksgiving so I am giving thanks to those worthy food bloggers who have posted the holiday recipes that make my mouth water.

Annie's Eats.com

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting

A Beautiful Mess

Cranberry Apple Stuffing

Spiced Chai Recipe

How Sweet It Is

Sweet & Sticky Pomegranate Chicken

Lightened Up Fresh Green Bean Casserole

Reading My Tea Leaves

Boiled Apple Cider Syrup

Butternut Squash: Roasted & Mashed

Martha Stewart Everything Thanksgiving (Seriously, how can I not?)

Deep Dish Apple Pie

Roast Turkey with Cornbread Stuffing

Food 52

Magical Marvelous Cookies

Bacon Bird with Turkey Neck Gravy

Cheers! Have a beautiful Thanksgiving. 

Hiking

With fall descending upon us, I have found a new hobby, hiking. I grew up in the country and loved to wander through the woods and walk around the lake close to my home but I had not really put myself in any terrain that would be considered challenging...until last weekend. 

Pretty beautiful huh? I went to the Wichita Mountains and climbed a mountain. Yep, nothing like feeling you've conquered something at the end of the day than getting to experience this view. If you've never been I highly suggest it. Even if you're not into hiking you can drive up to the top of Mount Scott and be way higher than I was. There is also a restaurant in the area called Meers and I have had bookoohs of burgers in my life and I have never had a burger better than theirs, plus I got to wash it down with Meers beer, also delicious. 

Funny story, we went on an easier hike after the first one for a picnic and I decided to lead us around afterwards. We were just wandering off of the trail so it didn't really matter where we went. Turns out I should never lead because I ended up between a huge buffalo and this longhorn.

He was huge! I would have gotten a picture of the buffalo but there was too much shrubbery in between us and I didn't want to stay there for too long. Lesson learned, I am no longer allowed to lead myself or anyone else anywhere lol. 

Another picture for your viewing pleasure. :) 

Moving

I have just moved back to OKC from Stillwater and this has been my bajillionth time to move. Thus, I have decided to share with you all the art of moving, with a little help from other's insights as well. Hopefully, nobody but this guy has to move like this:

So first, no matter what you say, you will need boxes. However, there are an endless amount of ways to get boxes for free!! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Liquor Stores
2. Starbucks
3. Bookstores
4. Any school department that has a copier (This is where I got the boxes for my most recent move).
5. Craigslist

Second, no matter how many boxes you've packed, loading the U-haul takes forever. I recommend a U-haul because it's a one trip load and unload. For me to pack all of my belongings up in Stillwater and drive them back to OKC cost me about 160. Loading the U-haul took about 4 hours and unloading only took one. Can you believe it? That's bringing everything downstairs to load and moving everything upstairs to unload. Silly. Also, when you get a U-haul I suggest moving during the week if you can, this way less people have reservations and if you run late getting the truck back all you have to do is call ahead and no extra charges or grumblings.

Third, Dolly, dolly, get a damn dolly! I had four solid wood bookshelves(That I loaded on my own) and I went ahead and rented the big utility dolly ($10) and it saved me from what would have been some terrible doses of belly aching, back aching headaches. 

I made the mistake of putting most furniture in the truck first. This sounds like a good idea but when you're dragging it in around all the boxes you've unloaded you'll wish you'd done it vice versa. Also, I would recommend throwing some bottled water/beer/insert drink of choice in your new fridge prior to the moving. I was never so thirsty in my life. 

Just. Get. It. Done. Don't tell yourself, "Oh, hey, I'll get that tomorrow." The sooner you move everything the sooner you can unpack/arrange everything and the sooner you can relax in your new home. 

After this past time I may even hire movers because then, I'm not covered in bruises from banging stuff around. The professionals are professionals for a reason :)

Halloween!

Halloween = Favorite.Holiday.EVER.

However, I am quite indecisive when it comes to costumes and honestly think I will just dig out my old great pumpkin tee and rock it with a sugar skull mask. That being said, I have scavenged the world wide web for costume ideas and here are some of the best ones yet!

Let's Get Political

Okay, is it just me or has the political campaign completely clogged everyone's social network newsfeed? Usually I try to stay out of it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, which is why we roll with democracy. That being said, an old friend of mine posted the following:

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that. Remember, there IS a test coming up. The 2012 elections.

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

by: Ed Will

Now, I realize you all have probably seen this and I'm not going to say that this would never happen because of  the education system. Of course this is a hypothetical analogy used to prove a point, a point that is lacking the real life factor, in my personal opinion. Let's say this really IS how the grading system works for this class and if they failed the class they would be unable to continue. Do you really think that these students would stop trying or would they attempt to help one another and make a communal effort? If this system were put to into real life circumstances, lets minimize it to a village, would the village not finally come to terms with their differences and save themselves before starvation? I don't believe that Obama's goal is to Robin Hood the United States. I think his goal is to establish a human connection throughout the community, despite class rank, political stance, and who not or what have you. The thing is, our country is in over its head in debt, so far that it is unlikely for us to dig ourselves out without the common effort brought on by all of us. This means that those who do not try will have to, despite their fears of failure or whatever it is that is holding them back, and those who overachieve will have to continue to do so. Why? Because if we still want our country to exist for our grandkids, our great grandkids and for their grandkids and their great grandkids we have got to start now. Otherwise, America will break beyond repair and it will be due to our own selfish denial. Our greats and grands will not be proud of us as is the case with our grandparents, they will recognize that we became lazy, uncaring, and ignorant of the big picture. They will be disgusted. Does anyone  else see this? Feel free to argue with me I have no qualms with discussing the matter.