This Weekend I...

I decided to pick health care in Haiti for the topic of my semester-long project for International Research and Strategic Planning. I am so excited; I've been reading a lot about Haiti all weekend, starting with the book Mountains Beyond Mountains (which I am reading for a book review for another class. work smart not and hard). As much as I am deeply concerned with issues our own nation is facing, I can't deny that my heart beats for this stuff and the struggles of others around the world. It satisfies the anthropologist in me to learn about other cultures, and the social worker in me to figure out how we can help.

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I made these fancy crescent rolls (adding peanut butter makes things fancy, right?).

I got a lot done this weekend! I majorly cleaned the bathroom, scrubbing down the whole shower/bath, which left my brain rattled in cleaning supply fumes (oops). But I got free Starbucks as a reward, and a super clean shower.

Kyle made a new jungle gym for the kitties and they got to play outside a lot.

I made a giant batch of curried turkey with rice, to have lots of leftovers for lunch through the week.

I also got a vine. Grew a vine? Planted a vine? I don't know why it's called vine, but I signed up. You can expect mostly videos of cats.

Not pictured: I did a bunch of homework, drank some wine, watched some TV, painted my nails, cut the kittens claws, texted with my sister a lot, watched a little Penguins hockey, enjoyed spending time with my husband, listened to this song and this song, and woke up around 4:30am both Saturday and Sunday (the cats have me trained). I have another busy week ahead, every week until maybe the second one in May will be busy, but that's how I like it. I'm having my baby teeth pulled this afternoon, volunteering at Project Homeless Connect Thursday, with lots of class, homework, internship and everything else around and in between. Have a good one!

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Crescent Rolls Revamped

We had a batch of crescent rolls in the fridge, so I thought I'd try a couple different versions of these chocolate and peanut butter filled rolls I have seen about Pinterest lately. Kyle is not a chocolate fan (unless it's in brownie form, or reeses, or york patties), so I made a few versions including: peanut butter, peanut butter with white chocolate chips, peanut butter with chocolate chips, chocolate almond honey butter, apricot jam, and a couple plain just in case. They all turned out delicious, though the jam ones made a big mess and stuck to the pan. They're really quick, easy and fun to be able to customize to people's tastes. I might like to try some savory versions next (fruit could also be good, and cinnamon sugar), or maybe something more ambitious off of this list.

peanut butter and chocolate chips

chocolate almond honey butter

peanut butter and white chocolate chips

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Lately

I decided to join this linkup (with Sarah and Stephanie) today, to give you a quick summary of life as of late. I like that it takes a strengths perspective and focuses on the good in life, while keeping reality in mind and reflecting on the not-so-good. Do I sound like a social worker yet?! :P

Happy:
- This may be the first semester of my life to ever really challenge me. It is mainly due to the sheer number of things there are to do in the allotted 24 hours per day. This can go under both categories, because  I'm excited about it because I feel fulfilled by doing work, but I also like to have time to cook dinner for my husband. We shall see how it goes.
- I quite like social policy. I still want to move back to DC.
- I'm really looking forward to my trip to Boston in March!
- On Thursdays we have class from 8am to 5:35 pm, so this week I made brownies to bring to folks and spread cheer. It worked! Definitely something to do every once in a while.

- This evening I am going to not do work (at some point), eat Thai food and watch The Campaign with husband. Looking forward to relaxing, maybe with some wine.
- My social work cohort is really filled with wonderful people. Sometimes I'm almost creeped out by how nice people are. I am not that nice, I assure you.
- I know I've talked about it at length already, but just had to say my Erin Condren planner is serving me wonderfully and even more so than last (half) semester. I guess it's only serving me well because I use it well, so pat on the back for me?
- I am getting my baby teeth pulled out on Monday, woohoo!
- As a part of my Practice with Communities and Organizations class, we will be working with an actual agency to help them in their endeavors this semester. My class is working with Pack of Hope, a relatively new organization that provides packed food for kids to take home over the weekends, when they do not have access to food at school and might not get any food at all otherwise. You should check them out, and if you're in McLennan county, consider donating or supporting one of their fundraisers!

- This was really delicious. Thought you should know.

 

Crappy:
- I have no clue where I'll be interning next year. I'm not supposed to know yet, but I don't even have any concrete ideas or agencies that interest me. Hopefully Baylor will find me something that fits my interests.
- I am gearing myself up to be so sad when The Office is over. This show was a whole support system for me while navigating the stress of being new to the Army, and I just love it and love the characters. It is time for it to go, and I'll always have the dvds, but still, so sad. No more Jam. And yesterdays episode...ahh.
- Anyone else tear up from sadness when you hear about other people getting pregnant or having babies or anything? I do. Wish I did not.
- Did you know that a 2002 National Geographic study found that 10% of 18-24 year olds in the USA couldn't locate the USA on a map? Even with the Mercator projection map. 30% could not locate the Pacific Ocean. I started reading a really interesting book on international social work.
- IRB training. That's all.

Have a good weekend, all!

- From the desk of Mrs. M

The Week in Photos

being brother and sister means sometimes sitting on one another/ gold stripes/ shepherd's pie in the works

orders for marriage retreat- Army official/ Home Depot/ skull key/ 2013 calendar via Rifle Paper Co.

cuddle bug/ pink and purple/ hitting the road for the Grapevine, TX!

moose are everywhere at the Great Wolf Lodge!/ Lego lodge/ marriage training/ Starbucks at the lodge- I really like the new vanilla spice latte

date weekend continues with hockey watching and Rainforest Cafe!

room key/ brunch/ Huxtable/ finally! (loved it)

mustard and navy/ popcorn for Castle watching/ lunch/ lists upon lists

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Date Weekend

Kyle and I last minute got a spot to go on a free military marriage retreat last Friday through Sunday; I had class until 5pm on Friday and the program started at 4, 2.5 hours away, but they said it was OK if we came late. I had never heard of Great Wolf Lodge and didn't really know what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised when we drove up to hear their own theme song playing outside, and giant wolves welcoming us. This place was pretty amazing, especially for a couple of Northerners living in Texas, who wouldn't expect to see anything moose and forest-themed anywhere near here. We didn't go in the water park at all, but enjoyed the atmosphere and amenities. It was a really nice weekend; the marriage training part was fine, and we had more free time than expected. I doubt Kyle and I would come to such a place ourselves, and spend close to $200 a night, but it would be really fun with kiddos I imagine. The room keys were wristbands (to not be lost in the water park, and I had no sound issues at night. 

lego version of the resort!

awesome as it would be if the wine was waiting for us when we arrived, I brought it from home :)

oh, and there is a Starbucks at the lodge!

Saturday night Kyle and I went to dinner at Rainforest Cafe, which was crazy. I would have loved this place as a kid, though it was pretty fun as an adult and being able to drink their delicious drinks. I do have to question the research that was put into rainforest wildlife in planning this establishment, but I forgive them their inaccuracies. :)

While I did work on homework when we had some down time (Kyle was napping so it was OK), it was the perfect opportunity to get away, before the semester really got going. We got home Sunday early afternoon, and continued date weekend by going to see Silver Linings Playbook (which finally came out here!); I loved it and I think Kyle enjoyed it too. It was a good weekend with my love.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Let's Talk Glasses

I've been a glasses wearer since I started to notice I couldn't see the board so well in 10th grade math class. My prescription is pretty low; I just need glasses for seeing at a distance and driving. I used to not wear my glasses very often, only putting them on when driving or when needed in class, but I find I wear them much more often these days. I guess I realized I like to see clearly at all times, and glasses now can be quite stylish!

I was recently contacted by Firmoo and offered a free pair of glasses in return for a blog post, so of course I obliged! I have ordered glasses online before, so I had my prescription ready and knew what style and shape of glasses might suit me best. I selected my glasses pretty quickly; I got a pair that is just about as close in shape to my previous pair as could be, but I went for a fun tortoiseshell color!The glasses arrived promptly, complete with a case, pouch, tightening kit (I know!), cleaning cloth, and, I will pause here to remind you- all for free! The glasses seem sturdy enough; I've been wearing them for over a week and they clean much better than my last pair, which, as any glasses wearer knows, is a simple pleasure in life. They are light and don't put pressure on my nose or head, odd as that may be to notice. I love the look and style of this pair. I actually had a girl in class say she thought my glasses were cute when we were doing start-of-semester introductions, so I gave the class a quick advertisement for firmoo.com, haha. What college student wouldn't be interested in a free pair of glasses, though?!

If you are less sure of what glasses might look good on you, or just want to play around and try something new, Firmoo has a convenient try-on service on their website, where you can upload a photo of yourself and virtually "try on" glasses before making your selection. Oh- and they also have prescription and non-prescription sunglasses! The best part is- they have a first pair free program, where, you guessed it, you get your first pair of glasses for free! Glasses are not inexpensive, so getting good service and a quality pair of glasses for free is pretty amazing. The only thing I don't like is the name of the company, it just doesn't roll off the tongue, but I can deal.

Have more questions? Find out more here!

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Note: The glasses were free. The opinions were my own. Yada yada yada.