Well, this is awkward.

My last post on here was in September. SEPTEMBER. That's pretty embarrassing and I'd like to apologize. Fall semester got the best of me; between school, a job, and an internship I was a complete mess, but somehow I survived without having a meltdown. Well sort of, but I won't get into all of that. Now Christmas time is here and I'm stuck wondering where the time went. Seriously, where did it go?! Over these past months I feel like nothing has changed, but when I look back everything is so different.

Michelle is now carrying a driver's license. It's hard to imagine, but she can drive legally now. Watch out everybody!

Giselle is at that stage where she can carry a full conversation and she questions me on everything. Her response to anything I say is, "why?"

There's a lot more, but I'm sure I'll write about it at a later date; now since the world didn't end as predicted I have to get all my Christmas shopping done. I was really counting on that whole Apocalypse thing..

Happy Holidays everybody!

So long summer! Hello Fall!

If we're friends on Facebook or if you happen to follow me on Twitter then you have somewhat of an idea as to how I've been handling this upcoming school year: badly. My baby sister, Giselle, has started kindergarten and my 16 year old sister, Michelle, is now a JUNIOR in high school! I've been so preoccupied with those two facts that I haven't even worried about the fact that I am now a senior in college. It's going to take a while for me to get used to saying that. It feels like just yesterday I was a senior in high school wondering where I would be today. The answer is: a nervous wreck who is wondering where she'll be another four years from now. Go figure.

Since things have been so busy I haven't really gotten the chance to do any neat crafts or try any cool recipes - but you better believe that I will once I get all my classes straightened out. 40 hours a week and 16 school credit hours are definitely starting to take its toll on me. I've been a zombie for the past week, but I keep telling myself it'll pay off in hopes that it will.

Good luck to all the kids starting their school year!

Cooking adventures

As you all know: I do not know my way around a kitchen. Yes, as shameful as that is to admit, it's true. My sister on the other hand, has an admirable knack for following recipes. Earlier in the year I made the mistake of promising her I'd try to learn to cook and now she's holding me to it. The nerve of her!
I know it will come in handy later, but I like to tell myself that I don't really need to learn because my boyfriend cooks better than I do anyway - but just in case I really need to... 
We started off with something that looked relatively easy. Walk before you run, right?
So for any beginners out there - this is the recipe for you!


Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup crushed saltine crackers - seriously, you need to pulverize these!
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 pork chops, approximately 1/2-inch thick
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 
  
• Directions:
• In a small bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, thyme, pepper and sage. Spread mustard on both sides of pork chops; coat with crumb mixture. In a large skillet, cook pork chops in oil over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and juices run clear.

We didn't alter the recipe at all since we're just beginners and it turned out great! Be careful when you put the pork chops in the oil, though - that is not fun at all. I still choose eating over cooking. 

Aloha & Mahalo!

The title sets the tone of our entire trip to Hawaii. In fact, those are the only two words that I learned: aloha (hi, bye, you're welcome, etc.) and mahalo (thank you). I wish I could have learned more, but the trip went by entirely too fast. We left early monday morning and of course, since it's us, we got the one taxi driver in the entire area who didn't have a GPS and couldn't find Marco's apartment. Fantastic start, right? Wrong. One very angry phone call later Marco and I went to the airport in his car and had to leave his Jeep in the garage for the duration of the trip. We were hoping this wasn't going to set the tone for the week and luckily it didn't. The rest of the trip was, for lack of a better word, perfection. A lot of things were crossed off of my imaginary bucket list! 

imaginary bucket list:



✓ actually going to Hawaii
✓ swimming with sea turtles
✓ snorkeling
✓ jet skiing
✓ watching the sunset and sunrise in one day!


It was definitely the experience of a lifetime and I'm so glad that my boyfriend asked me to go with him. I don't mean to brag, but I'm a very lucky gal. So since I've been missing that little piece of paradise ever since I got back I picked the recipe that reminded me of Hawaii the most. I recommend everybody give this drink a try and feel free to let me know what you think! 


Lavaflow:
 * 1 oz. light rum
 * 1 oz. Malibu® coconut rum
 * 2 oz. fresh or frozen strawberries
 * 1 small banana
 * 2 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice
 * 2 oz. coconut cream
Instructions: Blend the 2 rums and the strawberries in a blender. The pour it into a tall glass. Then blend the banana, the coconut cream, and the pineapple juice in blender with crushed ice until it's smooth. Pour this mixture into the glass with the rums very slowly. 
[You can see the strawberry mixture ooze it's way to the top along the sides of the glass: looks like lava!] 
Note: you can garnish it with a pineapple wedge and paper umbrella to make it look adorable. 

Celebrating Grandma's 65th Birthday

I know I say it often, but it's truly incredible how fast time flies. This past weekend my grandmother celebrated her 65th with the family and needless to say it was a great success. I don't really post about my newfound realizations, but this is different. After this I promise I'll try to stick to DIY projects and recipes that I attempt. (Fingers crossed). Anyway, my grandma played a big part in raising me and has proved herself to be someone that not only I, but all of my cousins can look up to. Just like a lot of the adults in my family she came here in order to improve the quality of life for herself and her children. This is the same reason that my mom came here and I could never thank them enough for all of their sacrifices. Now before I get into all of the details and make myself cry I'll get straight to the point. Time is precious. Everybody knows that, but most don't realize it until it's too late. I've seen it happen to many people and I've promised myself that I would try my best to avoid that kind of torment. Although it is hard to juggle school and work, it is not impossible to make time for friends and family. If I truly care about somebody I will make an effort to be in their life as well as include them in mine. I don't necessarily mean that I will call/text everyone on a daily basis, but there are different ways to be involved. Quick visits, a short call here and there. It's the small things that matter most and with life being as unpredictable as it is I find that keeping in touch is crucial. Two of my best friends' babies are turning one this summer! Hazel and Isaiah are getting so big that it overwhelms me. Michelle is going to be a junior in high school and Giselle is starting school this fall. For those of you who don't know me, these are big deals. Same goes for my dad and his side of the family. I may not see everyone as often as I'd like, but I make sure that they know that they mean the world to me. I apologize for this crazy rant that is somewhat unnecessary, but just figured I would be everyone's reminder that time is ticking away.

Side note: As serious as I am about this entire post it was very hard not to mock "YOLO" throughout the entire time I was reading/writing it.

Overdue Easter

I've reached the homestretch of the semester and these last few weeks are no joke. I haven't been able to put up any of the awesome pictures that I've been meaning to post for weeks now. Easter Sunday has become a tradition in my family that the kids, as well as the adults, really look forward to. I'd love to write more about the different games that were played and go into detail as to how the rules are set-up, but they are pretty self-explanatory and I have to finish two term papers in a couple of hours; procrastination at its finest. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed that day! 

 

Celebrations and Caverns

The past couple of weeks have been extremely exhausting, but certainly eventful. I've barely had anytime to breathe let alone put up a post so I'm sorry for the delay! Since a good 94% of the past two weeks has been crammed with 10 page research papers, midterms, and focus group mediating I'm going to focus on the weekend and all that it has taught me. Saturday consisted of the best birthday party ever and Sunday consisted of an awesome trip to Luray Caverns. Like I said, very eventful and seriously one of the best weekends that I've had in a long time. Now before I go into all the fun and interesting details of the party that I went to last Saturday I want to congratulate my best friends: Luis finally turned 21 and Denisse turned 22! That party was outrageous and I'm glad that I got the chance to see old friends from LHS that I hadn't seen in a while. I cannot stress enough what a good time I had and how many new things I learned! It was my first time playing Kings and first time I've seen a "waterfall" being done. Did you know that in Kings shuffling the cards right is essential? After having to do three waterfalls in a row I know that now. Survior Flipcup was a game that I've played before, but man did it get out of hand quickly. One thing about the guys that I know is that they don't take losing lightly. I'm not going to lie though, there were several instances where the cup was not flipped by game regulations so after a few penalties it was only right that the birthday boy flipped the whole table over. Who could blame him, right? At the bottom of the post I've included a recipe for Jungle Juice so that any of you reading this can have a party of your own!

After a long night of having fun and catching up with old friends there is nothing better than to wake up super early and have a relaxing day with the family. I'm being sarcastic about the waking up early part, but I do sincerely enjoy spending time with my family. It has sort of become a habit to plan something with my uncle so that he could come down from Maryland on Sundays. My sisters and I get to spend time with our cousins and our grandmother. Now let me tell you, if you haven't been to Luray Caverns then it's definitely something that you should put on your to-do list. It's an educational experience that's fun for the whole family. Not to mention tickets include a tour of the caverns, access to the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum, and access the Luray Cavern Museum. Plus for an extra 7 dollars you might as well give the giant maze a try! For more information you can go to their website if you click here: www.luraycaverns.com ; Thank me later. 

Now the long awaited recipe for the jungle juice at that crazy party last saturday:

Jungle Juice Ingredients

1. 1/2 bottle of Strawberry/Kiwi Pinnacle Vodka
2. 1/2 bottle of Whipped Cream Pinnacle Vodka
3. 1 bottle of Nuvo
4. 1/2 bottle of Patron
5. 2 bottles of Hawaiian Punch
6. 2-3 bottles of Srtawberry Orange Sunny Delight
7. 1/2 bottle of Sprite

Directions: 

     Mix all together and add more juice/soda to your taste.

Now just a side note, this is in fact one of the weaker recipes out there. There are many others online that contain more alcohol, but regardless, enjoy! 

Also, DON'T DRINK & DRIVE. 

Fun in the Sun

Left: Me on my 1st Birthday
Right: Me on my 21'st Birthday

You would not believe how amazing this past week and a half have been. It flew by incredibly fast, but it was well worth it. For those of you who don't know me, my birthday just passed and boy was it one to remember! Or is it one that's hard to remember? A little bit of both, but it was fun! I'm lucky enough to have had my family throw me a great casino-themed party -- and I was also lucky in the sense that I robbed everybody blind at the poker table. Beginner's luck, I guess. Seriously though, I am really thankful for all of my friends and family that came out to celebrate that day/night with me, it truly did make it a special day for me and for those who couldn't make it: I still sincerely appreciate you taking the time out of your day to wish me a happy birthday.

My beautiful cousins and I

Earlier that day I spent some time writing out 21 letters to 21 people in my life that have taught me something that's stuck with me and it was quite the emotional roller coaster, but still something I thought was worth doing because I feel like I don't tell people enough how much I truly appreciate them. If you're reading this and have never done anything like that, you should try it. It's kind of enlightening. I wrote to several people that have played a major role in my life since I was little and I wrote to some people who would never expect a letter like that from me. You'd be surprised what you end up with when you just sit back and think of all the life lessons that people have taught you. So for those of you who got a letter: thank you for all you do and all you've done, and just because you didn't get a letter doesn't mean that I don't value the role you play in my life.

Kicking off Spring

On another note, spring break kicked off very nicely and I now find myself to be at ease and stress-free! This break was much needed and I am so thankful that I got to spend it blissfully with family and it also gave me the time to catch up with my friends. I thought I would settle down and try some recipes or something, but I was too relaxed to care. Sorry! One of these days I'm gonna sit down pick a recipe and try it out so that I could show you guys what it really means to not be able to cook. On the upside, I have a boyfriend who's got a knack for fixing the recipes that I mess up. We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary and I couldn't be any happier. If anyone has any suggestions as to what I should try to make for the next post let me know! Keep in mind, I'm just a beginner with a knack for starting fires so nothing too extreme.

Spring Fever!

Time is flying! I can't believe it's seriously March already. It's going to be a busy month and I cannot wait for all the festivities to begin.
First, I will be turning 21. What else is there to say? That alone is a good enough reason for all my excitement. Following my 21st birthday is Spring Break! Not that I have any plans, but I don't have school for a whole week and that's what truly matters. On the 13th, Marco and I will celebrate our 2 year anniversary. I can't believe he's been putting up with my nonsense for two years now. If anyone has some good ideas on what I should do to surprise him, it would be greatly appreciated. Then of course, there's all my friends! So many birthdays so little time! Pamela, Luis, and Denisse are all celebrating their birthdays this month and I am beyond happy for them.
I am also going to take this opportunity to try and make some of the recipes from my "21& Over" board on Pinterest. Then once I sober up I'll be sure to post them up for you and let you know how awesome they are!

To be or not to be...healthy?

So for the past 2 months I've been telling myself that I was going to start exercising rigorously and eating food that is healthy and less fattening. The result? I crave fast food more than ever and I go to the gym every once in a while. That wasn't what I had in mind. But what do you do when you have no willpower when it comes to food? Research. Did you know that 1/4 of a cantaloupe is around 70 calories? 1/4 of a bag of cheese-balls is 150. That certainly changes my perspective.

Being healthy with someone else actually helps too! My friend Pam and I tried to go on this crazy meal & exercise plan that a coworker of ours suggested. Operation was a no-go. Worst day ever, but what I learned from that was that not every exercise plan works for everybody. Instead of making a huge change that my body will not tolerate (unseasoned chicken and a sweet potato are not going to cut it for me) I am just going to upgrade to healthy foods that are good and good for me.

Don't get the wrong idea and think that I'm one of those girls that's obsessed with their weight, it's not anything like that. I am just realizing that cheeseburgers and chipotle are not the way to go if I want to live a healthy lifestyle. So as this process continues if I encounter any exercises, tips, or good recipes that help along the way, I'll post about them in hopes that it helps somebody out there.

Valentine Madness

What a hectic week it's been! I haven't posted anything mostly because I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Six courses can really sneak up on you, but I digress. This weekend was full of family time! It couldn't have been any better. On Saturday the 11th I took my sisters to Rudy Jr's 5th birthday party! Time flies. The party was set up in a spacious dance studio with decorations everywhere. The kids had an amazing time! It was a carnival themed party with a moonbounce, cotton candy machine, popcorn maker, and tons of carnival-themed games. The food was delicious and everyone had a great time. What more could you ask for? [If you happened to ask for a life-sized red Power Ranger, he was there too!]

Then on Sunday we celebrated Valentine's day with all of the kids. Did I mention that we have a lot of kids in the family? We do. There was cupcake decorating station, a steal my heart hunt, and several other Valentine games. There's nothing quite like family time and hanging out with all the munchkins. The party came to an end around 5-6 pm and we ordered a delicious heart-shaped pizza from Papa Johns to end the celebration. If you haven't tried the heart-shaped pizza from Papa John's then I suggest you do so ASAP. Not only is it fun and festive, but something about the lovely shape makes it taste extraordinary. Either that or I just need an excuse for eating more junk food, but are you really going to miss out on a heart-shaped pizza?

Although the pizza was great, my favorite part of the festivities had to be the Valentine Exchange. I remember back in elementary school when Valentine's day, other than Halloween of course, was the best day for candy. Not just candy, but reminding other classmates, teachers, and family that you genuinely cared about them. Too many times this past week have I seen statuses or tweets about people hating Valentine's day because they're alone, single, and whatever other reason they may give. If you are one of those people who didn't get a card or a call then here's a valentine from me (and my baby sister) to you. Sorry you can't take the lollipop from the screen, but as soon as technology makes that possible I'll gladly make it happen :)

Superbowl Sunday

If there's any day in the year to break your already weak-willed New Year's Resolution it's Super Bowl Sunday. In a perfect world I said no to all the junk food so readily available to me that day AND I'll even say that I hit the gym, but in reality I became a bottomless pit.

On the bright side, I made Chicken Enchilada Puffs! This is first recipe that I tried from Pinterest and the first recipe that was a complete success. No unexplicable mess, no "let's just throw this away and order pizza" syndrome, and I didn't even burn anything! Some of you think I'm kidding about the burning part, but I almost did burn the house down once. I'll save the "I didn't know garlic bread could catch on fire" story for another time though. For now I'll give you a play-by-play on how to make these delicious snacks.




Ingredients:

•  Jumbo Crescent Rolls. [1 package makes 16]
•  1/2 cup of shredded chicken
•  2 tsp of taco seasoning mix
•  1/3 cup of enchilada sauce
•  2 tbsp of cream cheese
•  1/2 cup of mexican blend shredded cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 and have a cookie sheet ready 
• Mix shredded chicken, enchilada sauce, and taco seasoning in a bowl
• Throw the cream cheese and shredded cheese together in a bowl and into the microwave to soften for 30-40 seconds
• Mix the shredded cheese & cream cheese with the chicken
• Spread jumbo crescent rolls out onto a pan and cut each triangle into 2 triangles (the picture explains it better)
• Scoop 1 tsp of the chicken and place into each roll
• Pull outer corners in toward chicken mixture and enclose the filling
• Bake until golden brown

Optional: the original recipe says you can sprinkle cheese on top, but I don't only because with my luck the cheese on top would catch on fire.

As I made them the second and third time I started changing things around a little, but you can find the original recipe here: Chicken Enchilada Puffs

The typical "About the Author" post

Let me just pretend that I didn't just spill an unnecessary amount of hot beverage onto my work area and start this blog off the right way. Good morning and welcome! "Welcome to what," you may ask and my answer is I have no idea. I'm at that stage in life where I think I have tons of cool stories and advice to offer when in reality I don't. We've all been there before, right? No? Just me? Figures.

Since I can't exactly tell you what this blog is going to be about I'll just entertain you with a few details:

I'm a Pinterest enthusiast, so I will be attempting a lot of the DIY crafts and mouthwatering recipes I've pinned on my boards and blogging about my process and results. Let me just warn you now, I'll either be obnoxiously excited that my end result came out the way that I wanted it to OR I will be extremely bitter that it didn't and claim that it's an impossible task anyway.

My junior year at George Mason kicked off and I am a marketing major in the School of Management! I'm taking 6 classes for 18 credits this semester so I can hurry it up and hightail it out of there. Why should you care? You shouldn't, but it would explain some of my future posts about coming up with a way to inject caffeine into my bloodstream.

I love adventures! I just don't go on any. As much as I'd like to travel the world and post awesome stories about all of my encounters I can't. Remember I'm a college student: I'm broke. I will, on the other hand, post stories and pictures about my mini-adventures. That includes taking my baby sister to a park, going out of town to visit a friend, or driving to DC to pretend to be a tourist. [Side note: I only pretend to be a tourist because even though I've lived in the Northern VA area for more than 3/4 of my life I still manage to not know where anything is. By pretending to be a tourist it makes it socially acceptable for me not to be able to point any real tourists in the right direction.]


Reflections. I'll post a lot of those. Mostly because I love looking back on things. Not in a weird "this-chick-can't-let-go-of-the-past" way, but more in a "I remember thinking like this as a kid" perspective. I'll be honest, I had the silliest ideas of what life was about when I was little and going back to that state of mind is really refreshing.

Last but not least, friends and family. What about them? I love them. So get ready to hear a lot about them. I'll tell crazy anecdotes about how my sisters drive me crazy and how my friends are out of their minds. There will be posts about how the little kids in my family are growing up so fast and how my friends' babies are too. Expect posts on how frustrated I get knowing that my boyfriend is a better cook than I am. All of that is sure to come at one point or another so don't say I didn't warn you!

My life, like everyone else's, is pure madness. I tell myself I'm in control when I know I'm clearly not. I try to be as organized as I can so I feel more in control, but it never really works. Hence the name: organized chaos.

WARNING: I have a border-line inappropriate sense of humor that you will have to excuse if you plan on continuing to read my blog. For some reason I am easily amused by: puns, sexual innuendos, chubby animals, and an array of other strange things. So if I post something that's strangely bizarre and border-line offensive, I'm sorry, and by sorry I mean: you're welcome.