What's In A Name?

When I started writing this blog at the end of January my life was somewhat in a frenzy.

I had been stressing for the past eight months about making A's in my ranking classes to get into nursing school for the Fall 09 semester. If I made all A's I'd have no worries about being one of the 75 applicants accepted into the extremely competitive program. Not being accepted and having to wait an additional year before starting would have been devastating.

I had just finished my Introduction to Logic class elective requirement which was a semester of stressful hell because I had to learn a new way to 'think' and I was totally unfamiliar with any philosophy courses. Not to mention, I also finished Anatomy and Physiology which was pretty intense too.

I had been late on three payments, mine and Matt's rent and two credit card bills. It wasn't because I didn't have the money, it was in the checking account. I just completely forgot about the statements and didn't pay them. This is soo not me, I'm usually much more punctual about money. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed in myself for dropping the ball and for having to pay $60 in late fees when money was already tight.

Matt and I had some previous issues arise at that time too and the fighting and stress associated with them surfaced again.

It really felt like I was hanging by a thread, barely getting along.

Things seem to be a one-eighty now.

I'm very happy.

I'm satisfied, calm and excited that I reached my goal for my grades and I'm sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'll be starting nursing school next fall. Acceptance letters go out in two weeks so I'll post the results then.

Not only did I pass Logic with an A, but I'm the tutor for it now. It's a job that allows me to get study and homework time in. I also like to help people so it's good for doing that and I've made some great new friends as well. It's really been a blessing in disguise because I was really nervous at first that I either would hate tutoring or would suck at it.

I'm a very forgetful person but I've been more organized and, thankfully, haven't dropped the ball on anything major.

Now that this semester is wrapping up, I have to say it's been one of my best. I'm content more than ever because I know I'm headed in the career path that I'm meant to do. I loved having my first college art course and exploring my creative side that I've neglected.

This semester went by faster than any other but I feel like I've really grown. I've made new friends. Seriously, the first year Matt and I lived in our apartment we only had guests over one time and that was his sister and her fiance. Now I've got a new best friend that I talk to or hang out with daily and many other new friendships that I know will grow stronger.

Matt and mine's relationship is going strong. We celebrated our six year anniversary this past Saturday. Wow, six years! It doesn't seem like it's been that long. I don't really think about the past when he wasn't around. It's like we've always been together.

I didn't expect it to be this way, but this blog has been a great way for me to look back and realize what I've accomplished and endured the past few months.

I don't think I'll change the name of my blog yet, because I'm really not sure what to change it to. I guess it serves as a reminder that difficult and stressful times are common, but they do pass.

This is my 49th post! Because I just love giveaways, there will be a new giveaway for my 50th post later this week. Here's a little hint (probably quite obvious, but oh well)

Create a playlist at MixPod.com

Tag You're It!

It seems I've been in a blogging rut lately. This tag from SHW was the perfect solution though.

1.Current obsession: The Twilight Saga, I still can't get enough!

2.Namesake: My mom says that a friend of hers in college was named Kebi and she liked it. My middle name, Cedawna, is inspired by my grandpa Don. My mom was a big daddy's girl.

3.Favorite Dinner: Grilled chicken wrapped in Prosciutto with melted fresh Mozzarella, Bruschetta, and Pesto on top. My mom makes it and I request it every time I'm back home at my parent's. Parmesan risotto and Oven-roasted asparagus with Hollendaise sauce are my favorite sides.

4.Favorite brand of jeans: Right now, I'm loving the Favorite Boyfriend Fit from American Eagle. They fit great in all the right places and at $40 bucks a pair, they're simply perfect!


5.Favorite tea flavor: TAZO Passion tea

6.Favorite owned jewelry: I love my Promise Rings from Matt, but I feel utterly naked if I'm not wearing my Fossil watch.


7.Favorite TV show: Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and Colbert Report, just to name a few.

8.Listening to:

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

9.Bathroom cabinet holds: Everything under the sun... it's like a jungle in there of hair sprays, creams, and gels, clippies, hair ties, floss, nail polish...

10.Childhood dream: I dreamed of being a Marine Biologist or Veterinarian. I promise someday, I'll swim with dolphins.

11.If I could go anywhere in the next hour, I would ... be in Italy with Melissa. I miss her a ton and want to go visit so bad, it would be awesome to visit Italy for a week, or two :)


This is a beautiful photo of Portofino from her last excursion. So gorgeous

12.Person I want to meet: Cheesy I know, but I'm still hoping and wishing I get chosen to visit Pioneer Woman at the Ranch. That woman can cook!

13.Five-Year-Plan: If things go perfectly my way: In two years, I'll have my ASN and RN and I want to get married that year. I'll work part-time while finishing my last year to get my BSN. A year or two after that, I want to have a nice home and some land and maybe a little sprout or two. I also want to get my Master's in Nursing sometime in there after I get my BSN.
However, if things go Matt's way: in three years we'll get married and then wait 2 years to have kids. I'm really trying to work on him to get married sooner but we both are insistent that when we tie the knot, we're on our own. No help at all from our parents, so we need to be doing well financially before any wedding bells will be ringing. Hopefully, he'll just have a good enough job to support the two of us before I'm completely done with school. A girl can hope...

14.Today is special because: I took my Speech final and that dreadful class is finally over!

15.Where I blog: Usually on the couch or sometimes while I'm at work tutoring.

16.My perfect day: Anything that involves spending some leisure time with my fam and Matt. I'm usually pretty simple

I tag:


Hannah Noel

Tara

Yours Truly

Such A Life

The Great Deluge

As in, the Great Flood.

That's what I'm experiencing today anyway. We've had some major flooding here and everything's pretty bad. I was scared out of my mind on the way to work at the school this morning. The rain was coming down so hard, visibility was slim to none. There was so much water on the roads too, above the curb on most roads. That's about 4-5 inches of water covering most of the city streets. I drive an '06 Honda Civic coupe so I'm pretty low to the ground. My car shook a couple of times like it was going to die. I kept mumbling and praying, "Please don't die, please don't die". Luckily I got around fine, but I saw several cars pulled over with their hoods popped open to dry out the engine.

There are firetrucks, city workers, and policemen all over town blocking off intersections.




This is the view coming down the hill from the school. Looks pretty ominous, no?


And this is, um a Baseball Field, not a pond.



I sure am glad I invested in my pair of Sperry's Topsiders for days such as this.
These are mine


But, I'm now in love with these

And these

Off the Deep End?

Is it crazy that I'm seriously trying to talk my friend Haley into going with me on a trip to....




It's official, I'm one of those crazed fans, desperately wanting more of the Twilight saga! I finally finished Breaking Dawn last night. I thought it was the weirdest of the four books and that the true soul of Edward and Bella got lost in the translation. It was still pretty good though, just not as good as Book One (Twilight) and Book Three (Eclipse).
Can't wait for the film version of New Moon to come out in November and then I've read online that the film version of Eclipse is due June 2010. I know the movie does the novel no justice, but I still love "Twilight" anyway.

Completely out of my nature, I've already written the papers and done the projects that are due next week for Finals. No procrastination here, so I'm off to get back to reading the "Midnight Sun", which is Edward's version of Twilight. As expected, it's pretty good so far.

For any Twilight fans that don't know about Stephenie Meyer's personal website it's:
www.stepheniemeyer.com
It's awesome and I love reading all the chapters and story lines that were edited out of the final draft of each book.

And if you are interested in TwiCon too, you can go here for the official site.

Happy Reading!

In the Kitchen with Kebi

Here is my recipe for Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce.
I adapted this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and I really love it. It's pretty easy and super yummy.

I used ground beef in my recipe, but I'm sure chicken would work nicely. Also, according to my recipe the sauce is on the thick side, think thick cream gravy. If you'd like it a little thinner, just add some more milk. I also used the Cream of Mushroom soup and loved the addition of mushrooms.

Beef Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce

8 oz tub whipped cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
¾ Cup Milk
1 can Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Chicken condensed soup
1 small can chopped fire-roasted green chilies, drained
½ tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb ground beef
2 cups shredded cheese, divided
14-16 small corn tortillas


Season and brown the ground beef with some chopped onion and garlic powder. I added some Pampered Chef Southwest seasoning to the meat , but taco seasoning would work well too. Drain the beef and stir in 1 ½ cup cheese until melted through and combined. Set aside.
Heat a half inch of oil in a small pan. Lightly fry the corn tortillas to soften them and then place on paper towels to drain.

Fill tortillas with beef, roll them up, and place seam-side down in greased 13x9 inch pan.

Meanwhile, place cream cheese, sour cream, milk, green chilies and seasonings in a medium saucepan. Heat until barely simmering over medium heat, stirring constantly. (Be careful, it will burn and stick on the bottom really easily) Pour hot sauce over the enchiladas. Cover with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.
Top with remaining ½ cup cheese and serve when melted.



I got sidetracked and didn't stir the sauce the whole time. It ended up burning and sticking to the bottom of my saucepan. I was just careful not to scrape the burnt portion off when I poured it over the enchiladas and the sauce tasted great. Just don't forget to stir like I did :)

Have you all tried the Rice a Roni Mexican rice? It's delicious and tastes just like rice from a good Mexican restaurant. It went perfectly with this meal.



If you try it out, be sure to let me know if you like it. Enjoy!

Spring Fever

This week has been absolutely amazing. We've had 80 degree weather every day and even a record high of 91 on Tuesday. Spring is definitely here. The fact that the forecast for the next 4 days includes an 80% chance of rain everyday proves it even further. Matt finally broke down and let my buy some hanging flower baskets of petunias for our porch. They look great but it's been so windy around here the poor things have been getting a beat down. It's pretty Springy around here and I couldn't be happier.

We've got some purple Petunias too, but these are by far my faves.

 

Tuesday afternoon I jogged for 45 minutes at the nature reserve on campus. It was so nice. There are several ponds with bridges crossing them and tons of trees and paved paths that wind through it all. It was much nicer to get outside than going up to the Rec Center and running around the indoor track. I think it's my new favorite place to exercise.

Matt's gone this weekend to Red Slough, a wildlife management reserve in about as Southeastern Oklahoma as possible. It's practically on the Texas state line. He usually has at least one weekend trip per semester. Last Fall it was six days in Arizona and New Mexico so I'm glad he's not leaving the state this time and he'll only be gone until Sunday. I decided to stay at our place instead of going back to my parent's for the weekend to get done with all of my Final Papers and Projects. Only next week of classes then Final's come up and then I'm out for the summer! This semester has definitely gone by so fast, I can't believer it's already over.

I'm usually a baby about staying here alone, but this time's not too bad. I had to lock the bedroom door last night, leave the living room lights on, and check the window and door locks (twice). But I made it through just fine. It's actually nice to be here alone and have everything quiet to get done with all of my homework.

Tonight I may get out and go to a play at the school. It' based on Shakespeare's Richard III except it centers around a woman named Rachel who murders and sleeps her way to the top. It should be interesting.

I'll have a recipe for Enchiladas with Sour Cream Sauce up sometime this week. My friend Haley and I made it for dinner last week and it's probably my new favorite dish, yum!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Miracle Whip Cake

I posted this recipe over on the Flirty Apron Blog and wanted to share it with all of you too. It's one of my favorite chocolate cakes. It's Miracle Whip Cake.

I know, I know, this recipe sounds funky.
I promise that you can't taste Miracle Whip in the final cake. This is one of my grandmother Nana's recipes, and is my Papa's favorite cake. The cake is not too sweet or rich but the icing really adds a sweet chocolaty punch to it. The icing's so delicious that you could just eat it with a spoon, not that I've ever done that or anything.
Hope you enjoy!

Miracle Whip Cake

Sift together into a large mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa

Add:
1 cup Miracle Whip
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Mix well and pour into a greased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Icing
Bring to a boil in a medium saucepan:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Cook for one minute then pour icing over warm cake.
You could also stir some nuts into the icing or sprinkle them over the cake if you like.