Things I Love Thursday

My spirits are down at the moment. My cold got worse and is now afflicting my head which is exactly what I've been trying to prevent. I can't stop sneezing. But, I've still managed to have a nice week.

Getting my homework done early. I think this speaks for itself. But, I finished my homework before the week began so I've had a relatively easy week.

"Warm" weather! It was 44 degrees yesterday. I got a little overheated as I was running my errands in the morning morning, and I actually had to take off my winter coat!

The Obscene Amount of Junk Food I Ate This Weekend. I mean, bad for my health, but it was so delicious! I actually bypassed the actual cookie making and ate the dough.

Image from John Carleton

A Clean Room Marty visited this weekend, and when he saw the state of my room he cleaned it. Heh. It looked nice until he left. He even did the dishes.

Getting Free Food at Flossie's. Flossie's Cafe is one of the on campus cafes. One of my buddy's Ken 1 works at Flossie's, so I met (my other buddy) Ian there, and Ken 1 gave us free snacks. Ian had a muffin and I had a pretzel and cheese.

No afternoon classes on Thursday. On the plus side, I don't have to go to weight lifting-- my head and chest really appreciate this. On the down side, class is canceled because one of the ex-dean's passed away, and they're holding a kind of ceremony for him.

Top Chef Season 5 Finale I love this show so much. I'm kind of disappointed who won though.

Spring Break. One week of bliss. Plus, Spain in THREE days!


What are some thing you appreciated this week?

Tuesday Top Ten

I'm still feeling pretty gross. I went to the doctors yesterday, and he gave me some medicines, so hopefully this will clear up soon. At least, I hope it clears up soon-- Spain in FIVE days!


Top Ten Cutest Animals (according to me!)

10. Beavers-- Nom nom nom?


9. Elephants-- My love for them began when I was three; I was a huge fan of Packy from the Oregon Zoo.


8. Bison! (Or Buffalo)-- I used to have a stuffed Buffalo, and I named him Buffy.


7. Grizzly Bears-- (Also tied for spot 7 are Polar Bears, Black Bears, Himalayan Brown Bears, Asian Black Bears, and Sloth Bears. Check out the Sloth Bear; he has cute ears!) I adore bears, clearly.


6. Giraffes-- they're so awkward.


5. Koalas-- I've been in love with them ever since 1st grade when I learned about Australia instead of "normal first grade class stuff". I was an accelerated learner.


4. Tigers-- When I was three, I wanted to be a tiger when I grew up. And I love all tigers. I even love tigers long gone due to evil human hunting like the Bali Tiger, the Javan Tiger, and the Caspian Tiger.

3. When I wasn't learning about Australia in first grade, I was learning about Penguins. They've long since been one of my favorites, especially this cutie-- the Adelie Penguin.

2. Cats! Cats, cats, cats. I've only ever owned red tabby cats, one named Miss Kitty, the other named Ed. But one day I'd love to call a Scottish Fold part of the family. Doesn't this photo just make your heart go, "Awwwww!"


1. As if you didn't see this coming. Really. My love for Pandas started when I was three. My favorite aunt gave me a stuffed Panda, and I named him Andy Pandy.


Honorable Mentions: Narwhals, Beluga Whales, Badgers, Lambs, Cows, Bush Babies, Lemurs, Platypuses, Echidnas, Rhinos, hedgehogs, and bunnies (omg, bunnies!)

What are your favorite, cutest animals ever?

Link Love

I had an over-indulgent weekend. I went a week without junk food, and then the weekend arrives and I splurged hardcore. I mean, I gobbled up chips and french onion dip, cheesy pretzels, chocolate chip cookie dough, pizza, and thin mint cookies. Holy Cow!

But I digress. Here are some links that caught my eye this week. Some deal with food, some don't ;p

Gummi Bear Battalion -- It reminds me of a scene from the Lord of the Rings. Except with gummi bears instead of orcs. And cameo of Totoro instead of Peter Jackson. Just sayin'.

Do You Believe in Fairies?

The Hero Factory-- build your own super hero! Here is the one I created:

Brain age--test it. The directions are in Japanese: Click start. Wait for the countdown. Memorize the number's location on the screen, and click the circles from the smallest to largest number. My brain age is 25.

Kalamazoo in Photos--It's just a small taste of my city. Kazoo isn't as podunk as these photos make it seem though.

Twelve Maps-- World maps as Chinese Zodiac. Pretty stinkin' cool.

Sushi Art-- panda bears, computers, and Van Gogh recreations, oh my!

KMStichery-- Check out these sweet stenciled shirts. I'm quite partial to this Alice Paul Tee:



Bunny-Comic-- excruciatingly cute comic:

Also, I've caught a cold, and I've been feeling like this lately:


The new week is upon us; I hope it's a good one!

College Cookbook: Delicious Enchiladas

I made enchiladas for Marty for Valentine's Day. They were a hit. I'm not a huge fan of enchiladas, but these were delicious. In case you're interested in cooking some delicious enchiladas, just scroll down a little bit and you'll find the recipe.





Items you'll need
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp butter
1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers, drained
1 3-ounce cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp milk
1/4 ground cumin
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken or turkey
12 7-inch tortillas
Shredded Cheese
2 1/2 cups of canned red enchilada sauce

Directions
1. In a medium skillet heat up butter and add onion. Cook until onion is tender and remove from heat. Stir in 1 tbsp of canned green chile peppers; reserve the remaining chile peppers for sauce. Also, cook up the chicken or turkey if it isn't already cooked.

2. In a medium bowl stir together cream cheese and 1 tbsp of milk and the cumin; add onion mixture and chicken. Stir until combined. Spoon about 3 tbsp of chicken mixture onto each tortilla near the edge. Place filled tortillas, seam side down, in a greased 3-quart rectangular baking dish. I used a 9x13.

3. For sauce, stir the remaining green chiles into 2 1/2 cups of canned, red sauce. Pour evenly over the tortillas in the baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until heated through. After 35 minutes, remove foil, sprinkle enchiladas with shredded cheese. Return to oven and bake until cheese is melted.

Enjoy =]

We Goin' Clubbin'

Friday, Ian and his roommates had a rave themed house party. It was pretty sweet! Everyone and everything was a-glowin'. We all wore glow sticks and we all wore neon paint. Most people just wore it on their faces. But the homeowners decided to paint their entire bodies with it.

Here are some photos from Friday.


In the top photo is Ian and I. Yes, I am wearing hot pink suspenders.
There were black lights, strobe lights, flashing traffic lights, and these colorful disco bulbs everywhere. And techno played all night long which on some occasions resulted in random dance breakouts. During sandstorm, there was a surge into the living room and everyone started jumping up and down.

Here we are just a glowing mass. In the top left hand picture, Ian drew eyes on his hands with hi-lighters. He threw them up by his face randomly throughout the night.

I was a little weary going to the party at first. I hadn't had my coffee that day. But once it was time to head home, I wasn't ready to leave because I was having so much fun.

Unfortunately, I had a pretty fun-packed weekend, so my motivation for completing classwork is pretty much non-existent.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything out of the ordinary?

I know I'm two days late, but Happy Valentine's Day! I know I'm not the only one, but fellow Valentine's Day lovers are hard to find. My boyfriend came to visit on Saturday, and he wrote me a message in the snow!





Silly Poladroid cut out half the message, but it said, "I Love You Jackie".

The man behind the message, Marty.

We didn't exchange any special gifts. We just vegged out with each other while eating popcorn.

How did you spend your Valentine's Day?

Things I Love

It's been a while since I last posted. One might think I was busy doing homework or having a life. But, sadly that is not true. Really, I've been watching Alton Brown on the Food Network and eating chocolate chip cookies way past my bedtime.

Yes, a week well spent.

It's Thursday! Which means the weekend is almost here (in T minus 8 hours for me). Here are some things that have made my week spectacular.

Warm Weather. For the first time in three or four months, Michigan was graced with warm sunny weather. The sunshine only lasted for a day, so I ditched class early and went for a long walk.

Photo by everestelle

Going home for the weekend. It seems like I've been away at school for ages, but in reality it's only been four weeks. It was nice to get away from the hustle-n-bustle of Kalamazoo. I ate breakfast at Anna's Cafe with my mom, and I went to my boyfriend's niece's 3rd birthday party.

My Bedtime Reading. I've been reading kids books! They're so delightful. I finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and last night I started Through the Looking Glass and A Wrinkle in Time

Photo by williams_photographyx

Icing in the Fridge. I made cupcakes last Friday just for the heck of it (and from there, a small party spawned, and we sat around playing Guitar Hero, drinking beer, and eating cupcakes). Then I was left with two tubs of icing-- chocolate chunk and vanilla. A spoonful is the perfect midnight indulgence.

Only having to sit through only one hour of my Thursday night class instead of 3 and a half hours. 'nuff said!

Kingdom Hearts. Finally after owning the game for 3 years, I'm almost finished. I suspect 2 more hours until I've completed the game.


Sarah Haskins Videos. I can't figure out how to embed the video here, so instead click here! to watch Target Women: Chocolate. Seriously, check her out, and Enjoy! And while you're there, check out the rest of her videos =]

Your turn! What's made your week special?

Fashion Inspiration: Children's Lit (Part II)

I had so much fun putting together Fashion Inspiration: Children's Lit. (Part I), I thought I'd have another go at it. This time, I pulled inspiration from a few children's poetry books.


My Dragon's Been Disconsolate from The Dragons are Singing Tonight




Brownies-- Oops! from This is Just to Say




Carnivorous Chorus from Creature Carnival




What were some of your favorite poetry books as a kid?
My absolute faves. were The Dragons are Singing Tonight and anything by Shel Silverstein!

Gifties and Goodies Galore

It's always nice being surprised with gifts. On Sunday, my boyfriend came for another last minute visit. He was an hour late, so I was starting to worry. Turns out he made a pit stop at a floral shop and Meijer to pick me up some gifties.

He bought me a box of chocolate covered cherries, a Kitkat bar (because they're one of my favorite candy bars), and a bouquet of flowers. How sweet!


Today, before class, I was playing video games, and I heard a light knocking on the door. No one was there, but I glanced down and I saw a package addressed to me! One of my livejournal friends posted a riddle, and I guessed correctly, and she told me she would send along a prize shortly. Here's the loot:

A wallet, a key chain, a notepad, and a pen with invisible ink.

It didn't turn out well in this photograph, but I wrote "Thanks".

On an unrelated topic, Have you heard? Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow-- six more weeks of winter. Boo.