New Recipe: Crispy Cheddar Chicken

I found a new recipe last week and tried it out, but the first go (as it usually happens), wasn't the best.  But I made this recipe for the second time Thursday night and we both just LOVED it.  It was amazing!

(recipe source)

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

Time: 15 minute prep + 35 minutes baking

Yield: 7 servings

Recipe from adapted from What's Cookin' Chicago via Pinterest

Chicken:

4 large chicken breasts

2 sleeves Ritz crackers

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

1/2 C milk

3 C cheddar cheese, grated

1 t dried parsley

Sauce:

1 10-ounce can cream of chicken soup

2 T sour cream

2 T butter

 

1. Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks.
2. In a small food processor grind up the ritz crackers.
3. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the 1/4 t salt and 1/8 t pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine.
4. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk, then the cheese, and finally the cracker crumbs.
5. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan.
6. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken.
7. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.
8. Into a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.

Here are a few adjustments I made to this recipe:  I subbed the cream of chicken for cream of chicken with herbs, and it was amazing.  I didn't use two sleeves of crackers.  I did the first time I made this, and it was just way too many.  Half a sleeve worked just fine.  You don't have to follow the measurements for each chicken ingredient exactly, just put some milk and some grated cheese into separate containers.  Because using what is exactly listed here, I had to throw out so much.  Once I put all the chicken into the pan, I took the leftover crumbs and cheese and just drizzled it over the chicken.  I served this with rice and it was big hit with the hubby.  I also cooked all the chicken on top of parchment paper, and it worked well.

It's always nice to find a new way to cook chicken!

Pleasant Surprises

This week, God gave me some pleasant surprises.

Last week, I went in for my annual physical, and when they took my blood pressure and my weight, the numbers really hurt me.  The nurse who was updating my records told me to go home and call a doctor and schedule an appointment for high blood pressure.  It was 143/80.  I'll be honest, I didn't think it was too bad.  In fact, I can guarantee that my BP is almost always 5 points higher than it should be, simply because I'm in a doctor's office.  But this nurse (who wasn't very nice, anyway) was insistent that I was fat and had high blood pressure.  It got to me.  The number on the scale hit me harder.  It was 188.

That same day, I went home and gave real thought to those things.  What can I do to fix this?  I asked myself.  The answer was, of course, one that I didn't like.  I had to eat better and exercise.  That was really the only way to fix things.  So, I dived head first into a basic regimen that I set up for myself.  I went to the grocery store and bought whole grain cereal and spaghetti noodles.  I bought veggies that I liked, some apples, and half a cantaloupe.  I bought low-fat everything.  Anything that I already used that I could sub the low-fat version for, I did.  Ranch dressing, cream of mushroom soup, Progresso soup, and yogurt.  All in low-fat.  And, to my surprise, they all tasted really good!  I'm picky with Ranch, though, so it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but the soups and the yogurt really surprised me as to how good they were.  I drank water like I was a fish.  I got up early, walked Bonnie and jogged a little, came back inside, did a Netflix workout, showered, and then continued on with my day.  I packed a healthy lunch of Progresso soup, and either a yogurt or an apple.  I kept a bottle of water with me all day at work, and drank water throughout the day.  These are the things I did this past week.

So, due to lady issues, I couldn't complete my physical all in one day and had to come back yesterday.  They took my BP and weight again, and both were significantly lower.  My weight now read 177, and my BP was now 133/80.  I was happy!  Now, I can write the weight debacle up to many things.  I was on my period, they didn't have me take my jacket or my shoes off, blah blah blah.  The fact is, the number was lower, and that makes me happy.  Now that I know the fat-free stuff tastes just as good as the regular stuff, I don't have to skimp on food I cook or like.  And that makes me even happier. :)

Livin' for the Weekend

I haven't written a lot this week, because I've been working!  I got called into work last Wednesday, and have been working since.  Thankfully, tomorrow is my Friday, and I get a long weekend!  Then, most likely, I will be back at work come Monday.  But I'm really looking forward to this weekend.  I get paid tomorrow, Justin gets paid Friday, and we're going to go do fun stuff!  A.K.A., we're going to go out to eat Friday night, come back here and watch TV and play SWTOR until we both pass out.  It's going to be great. :)

I've been trying to exercise this week, but so far have only done it once.  I intended to get up this morning and run a little and then come back and do one of the "Dance Off the Inches" episodes on Netflix.  This was my routine the other morning and I worked up a little bit of a glisten.  Plus!  I've been eating yogurt this week!  You may not know this, but I hate yogurt.  I've hated yogurt my whole life.  I always thought it tasted sour.  But now, I've discovered Yoplait Whips.  It has a great texture, and tastes just like the spongy top of homemade pudding.  I'm in love with the Key Lime Pie and Orange Crème flavors.  It's got the texture of pudding, with being cold and sweet like ice cream.  It's a perfect middle ground for me!  Here's hoping it'll keep me away from donuts! :)

I feel like I've been really productive this week.  But being productive doesn't always mean creative, sadly.  I haven't created anything this week, not even a blog entry!  I'm sorry this one is so puny, but hopefully I'll have something more to write about tomorrow, Friday, or over the weekend.

Here's a throwback to my childhood! :)

Another New Fave!

"Colors," by April Smith and the Great Picture Show

Just discovered this song.  Apparently it's currently featured in a Lowe's commercial, but I haven't seen it.  I heard this song in the background of One Tree Hill while it was on and I wasn't watching it.  I love April's voice, and how she sounds SO good live!  Most artists don't, in my opinion.

Some Easy Art

I've recently found A Beautiful Mess, a blog showcasing fashion, photography, recipes and other cool stuff.

I saw this picture along the bottom of the page a few weeks ago, and liked the words "easy" and "wall art."  (click picture for tutorial)

The tutorial was really good, and I was excited to make this.  I thought it was such a neat idea.

I went out looking for some sort of art to use, and ended up finding really cheap already-framed art at the dollar store!  I was pretty stoked.

I used a sponge instead of a brush to paint the picture once the letters were stuck on it.  Here is what I came out with:

I'll admit, there were some places where the paint that got pulled up by the tape I placed around the edge of the dollar store print.  I had to fill those in with a Sharpie.  But you can't really tell in this picture, and you also can't really tell in the frame.

It's currently hanging up in the bedroom.  I bought another frame, and am currently waiting to get some foam brushes before I make another one.  But it's a cute little piece of art.  You sure can't get it at the dollar store!

I love this song!

I've spent most of the night searching for a song I heard in a Toyota commercial.  I kept typing the only part of the lyrics I knew into Google, which is normally how I go about finding a song I like but don't know the title of, and it just wasn't working.  But, finally, thanks to a YouTube comment, I found the song, and now I'm kind of obsessed with it.

Allow me to introduce you to "Rollerblades," by Eliza Doolittle.  Enjoy!

A Happy Retraction

Normally, when you have to retract a statement, it's embarrassing.  Something you said was wrong, or incorrect, and now you have to fix it.

But this morning, I finally retracted a statement I made last year.  And that statement is, I love Good Charlotte!  You may or may not already know this, but ever since last June, I've been struggling with the relationship GC and I share.  Justin and I traveled to Norfolk for a concert, and it was the worst concert either of us have ever been to.  We both felt like a train wreck the next day, and the way GC acted on stage really upset me, and made me question my affiliation with them as a band.

I refused to listen to their music after the concert, and eventually denounced them as my favorite band, something that had been written in stone since I was 16.  This really shocked everyone, but everyone was supportive of my decision to drop GC from their pedestal.

I've had a little over 6 months to think this over, and I'm very happy to announce that Good Charlotte is still my favorite band, and, as far as I'm concerned, always will be.  I just love them, I love their music, and they even have a song named after me!  Good Charlotte's music makes my heart happy, and I can't imagine not having them in my life.

Oh, that?  That's just me meeting the Madden brothers and having them sign my shirt.  NBD.

So, here I am, officially retracting my previous statement denouncing Good Charlotte as my favorite band.  It's just not true.  We're sorry for any inconvenience this false claim may have caused.  But don't worry.  That third album was still a mistake.

Baby Woes

Doggy baby, anyway.

I got called into work today.  That means that Bonnie gets left by herself all day.  The first time we did this back in November, I insisted that we coop her up in the kitchen using the mattress as a barrier, but she didn't do anything.  And today, as usual, she didn't mess inside!  She's an awesome dog like that.

While I was getting ready and trying to get Justin up for work, Bonnie was helping me like she usually does by jumping up into the bed and helping me wake Justin up by walking around him.  I was in the kitchen putting a Banquet meal in my lunchbox, when I heard, "Ugh, Bonnie!" from the bedroom.  My first thought was that she messed in the bed.  I ran into the room, and found out that she threw up!  This is the first time she's ever done that.  It wasn't a lot, and it honestly just looked like she chewed up her food and spit it back out.  She's been eating a lot of grass lately, ever since we changed her food back in December.  I wrote that up to her adjusting to the new food.  But she's still eating the grass, and now this morning she threw up, albeit just a little bit.

I'm not sure what's going on with her, but she doesn't seem out of the ordinary.  She doesn't seem sick or lethargic or anything.  I just keep praying that she'll be better and stop eating the grass.  Maybe she got into something and I just don't know it.  I just don't want her to be sick!  If this continues a lot longer, we may see a vet visit in her future.

Weighty Caty

Yeah, I know.  Worst pun ever.

So, I went to the Health Department today.  I'd had the appointment for months.  I have to go to the HD for receive birth control pills, since I don't have a PCP and I'm uninsured.  Anyway, I went in today for my annual physical, and had to step up on the scale.  I haven't been weighed on a scale since the last time I went in for my physical, which was back in September 2010.

Like most other women I know, I've struggled with my weight for some time.  When I entered high school at 15, I was pretty heavy and I liked wearing tight clothes.  It wasn't a good combo.  As high school continued, I slimmed down, but not to the point of actually being slim, just to the smallest size I've been since puberty.  Upon attending college, I of course gained the Freshman Fifteen, and then some.  And once I lived in a dorm, it was all pretty much over, because I sat and watched TV and ate all the time, simply because I could.  This evened out, though, because I had to walk all over campus to class, and often times, I chose to walk around town to fast food places, or drug stores, or whatever.  Because I was always walking somewhere, and therefore getting in some form of exercise, eating a lot didn't blow me up so much.

But now, it's a different story.  Ever since I graduated from college, I've been packing on pounds.  This is mostly due to the lack of exercise.  I don't really eat candy or chocolate, and I usually drink water in place of tea or soda.  The fact is, I have blown up, and even though I didn't like it to be begin with, it honestly didn't bother me enough to try and fix it.

Ever since I stepped on that scale earlier today, it's been bothering me.  You see, I didn't have a number to associate with the weight gain, so I didn't really know how much I'd put on.  I knew my arms were getting flabby, and that I was quickly growing a double chin.  Even in my wedding photos, you can tell I had gained weight.

The last time I was weighed, my weight was 165.  This was bad enough.  I didn't like this number.  I tried to tell myself that it was just a number, and that it doesn't mean the same for everyone.  And it doesn't.  But as of today, I now know that I weigh 188.  That means something to me.  It means something really bad.  165 was bad enough, but the new number is way too close to 200 for comfort.  I really don't want to weigh that much.  I don't want to look like a supermodel, or even go down a few sizes, although those are nice thoughts.  I want to be healthy.  That number isn't healthy.  I want a new number.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do to start fixing this.  I'm probably going to gourd myself on water for a while, and hopefully get into an exercise routine.  I can run and walk when I take Bonnie out, instead of just walking.  And there are lots of workout videos on Netflix I can utilize.  Exercise is really my only option because I'm weak with food.  I don't want to starve, and I don't want to completely change my diet.  I like the food I eat.  Perhaps better portions are in order on that front.

I find it ironic that every year since I was 15, I've made the New Year's resolution to lose weight.  I didn't do that this year, because it's never something I live up to.  But maybe that'll change this year.  Maybe I'll finally be able to make some of this go away.  Here's hoping.

This Weekend and New Recipes

This weekend, Mother, Luke, and Dolly came up to visit us!  Mother is taking pictures of her best friend Johnny's family for his birthday next month, and wanted to use my camera.  Her original intention was to drive the 4 hours up on Friday, grab the camera, and leave!  Well, Justin and I just weren't going to have that!  We insisted that they at least spend the night, and they did.  Friday, the five of us hung out at the apartment before having Bojangles for dinner and the painting the town red (a.k.a., going to the new Wal-Mart that my mom had heard so much about).  Saturday, we all had lunch at Piper's, which is better for me now that I've discovered their chicken sandwiches.  We took Luke over to Sci-Fi, which was fun, and then my mom and I did some more gallivanting over to Vaguely Reminiscent and Sustain-A-Bull Bookstore while the boys stayed home and played Star Wars.  I found the cutest dress down in the basement of Sustain-A-Bull, which is now a small clothing boutique called Pb Buttermilk's.  It cost me all of $18, and I love it!  I put it on when we got home and almost went to bed in it!  It's so comfortable.

[picture is coming!]

Plus, it's a huge upgrade from the skirt that I fell in love with in Vaguely Reminiscent that cost almost $80.  It gave me a sad face.

My mom insisted on leaving that night, because she has this thing where she doesn't want to "take our weekends away from us," which is a very sweet thought, but also a bit absurd at times, because weekends are there for a reason.  But anyway, we started packing her up to go home when we got back to the apartment, and it was sad.  But I'll see her again in a few weeks (I'm going home the weekend of the Super Bowl), so it's all good!  A great time was had by all.

I also tried some new recipes last week!  I live on Campbell's Kitchen.  I'm always finding new recipes on there to try, and they always come out delicious!  I haven't had a stinker yet!

Last week, I made two new dishes.  The first was Chicken Mozzarella.  Justin really loved it, so we will probably be having it again soon.  As in, I'm going to the store today and will probably buy the stuff to make it with then.  Here's the recipe:

1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Healthy Request® Condensed Tomato Soup

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning or dried oregano leaves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 1 ounce)

1/2 of a 1-pound package rotini pasta (about 3 cups), cooked without salt and drained

• Heat the oven to 400°F.
• Place the chicken into an 11 x 7 x 2-inch baking dish. Stir the soup, Italian seasoning and garlic powder in a medium bowl. Spoon the soup mixture over the chicken.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle the chicken with the cheese. Serve the chicken and sauce with the pasta.

I had to bake my chicken a little longer because my chicken breasts were a bit larger than the recipe called for.  But, they only needed about 15 more minutes, so it wasn't too bad.

The other dish was Beef and Noodles in the Crockpot.  I was a huge fan of this while we were eating, but it sort of killed my stomach a few hours later.  I'm not worried, though.  Most new dishes do that to me!  Justin liked it as well, but was dealing with family drama on the phone at the time, so his enthusiasm wasn't as clear.  Here's that recipe:

1 pound beef for stew, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed French Onion Soup

2/3 of a 12-ounce package medium egg noodles (about 4 cups), cooked and drained

• Place the beef into a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker.  Stir the soups in a small bowl.  Pour the soup mixture over the beef.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours or until the beef is fork-tender.  Serve the beef mixture over the noodles.

Yes, it's that insanely easy.  I'm not even joking, I cook with my crockpot every single week.  Sometimes, more than once a week.  It's a necessity to my kitchen!

Well, I said not too far back there that I had to go to the store, so I guess I'm going to get dressed and go!  Bummer.

I'm not sure...

...why this tripped me up so bad, but the other day, I was shopping in Wal-Mart for a few things that we needed but had never thought to buy, like a flashlight and a kitchen-specific fire extinguisher.

I was standing in line, waiting to check out, and it was one of those situations where there are only two registers open and 50 people are trying check out and go home with half the store in their buggies, all at the same time.  Suddenly, another lane opens, and a huge crowd, thinking they'll all be first to that party, charges for the lane.  You're left with a dilemma.  Because, once that other lane opens, you decide you're already far enough up this waiting line to just stay put, lest you be put at the back of another new line.  Then something goes wrong with the cash register.  Or the person checking out has to write a check like it's suddenly '92 instead of '12 when we all use plastic.  Something prolongs your stay in this insidious line, whereas ten minutes ago, you were sure that staying in this line would get you out quicker.

I was in this dilemma.  The woman two people ahead of me, leading the line and checking out with half the store's grocery section, was trying to buy some bagged fruit like bananas, and the clerk kept claiming that the scale didn't work, was tilted, something.  He called for backup.  Backup never came for this man.  The woman was forced to leave her bagged fruits at the cash register and go home.

What tripped me up wasn't how long the wait was (I'm actually rather patient with those things), or how incompetent the clerk was (of course he quit right when I got up there to check out and another guy came in his place, had to punch in his code, and take forever because I've done something really awful in a past life).  It was what the lady at the front of the line with the bagged fruit bought.

It was clear this woman had a family.  She bought a lot of breakfast items, like two or three boxes of cereal, and the fruit.  I'll assume they were having tacos for dinner one night, as she bought three packages of soft shells.  I began to add this all up in my head.  These are things I buy as well, you see.  One box of cereal is close to $3.  And a package of soft shells is close to $2 depending on what brand you buy.  This lady had already racked up $15 in just cereal and shells!  This began to upset me in a way that I'd never given thought to before.

Holy crap, I thought.  Her grocery bill is going to be really expensive!  Whenever I go shopping for groceries, my tab usually comes close to $60.  I've never gone over $100, the whole time I've been buying groceries for Justin and me.  While my aim is to spend sparingly, it's also a matter of numbers.  For two people to eat lunch and dinner (neither one of us eats in the morning, for various reasons) four days a week, Monday-Thursday, should only cost about that much.  At least in my neck of the woods.

I then began attributing this thinking to other things.  I was in that line for a long time!  When we have kids, they're going to be added to the grocery bill.  Things like peanut butter won't sit in the cabinet for months at a time like it does with us, they will eat it!  Then we'll have to buy more!  And what about stuff outside the grocery store?  They'll need clothes, and school supplies when they get that age.  Before that, they'll need diapers and bottles.  They'll need cribs and blankets and baby stuff!  This all became very overwhelming to me as I stood in this checkout line.  For the first time in my whole life, having a family scared me.  I've never attributed a financial side to having a family, because that wasn't attributed to me as a child.  I have fond memories of going school supply shopping every year with my mom and Luke, and we bought clothes, paper, pens and pencils, notebooks, everything.  For TWO!  And my mom never cared.  She paid the cashier.  She never told us to put something back because we couldn't afford it or didn't need it.  We went home with our new stuff and never gave it a second thought.

I really hope my family ends up like that.  I don't want to be scared of having a family.  I want to be prepared, and ready for it.  I want it to be a wonderful thing.  But right now, thanks to my overactive meditation in checkout lines, it's scaring the crap out of me.  Having to buy food for twice as many people as Justin and me, and having to get it all in the car and put up...I don't know.  This probably sounds incredibly silly to those who have kids and don't think about these things.  I guess I've been on such a baby binge for the last couple of years, and I felt like my clock was ticking, and all that.  But now, I feel like if we didn't start a family until I was 30, it'd be okay.  This is confusing.  Oh well, one day at at time.

Pinterest Challenge: Heart Garland

Since Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, I look forward to decorating for it every year.  I've been seeing a lot of Pinterest Challenges in the blogosphere, and have been wanting to complete one of my own challenges for several months now, but found nothing that really made me want to make it on my own.

Leave it to Valentine's Day to solve this dilemma!

This heart garland is SO easy.  And it makes such a nice little presentation.

Here is the original post I found on Pinterest:

 

The directions are pretty self-explanatory.  You take a heart-shaped paper punch, and then punch hearts out of whatever you want.  The original crafter used paint chips, which I loved, but couldn't find.  I just used scrapbook paper I had on hand.

Also, instead of threading the hearts, I used mini clothes pins and made a little clothesline above my kitchen sink!  SO cute.

 Not bad for a little 10-minutes-at-best craft, huh? :)

Writing Prompt 2: The Habit

Prompt: Damn it! He should have known better.  Now the cops were going to know where to find him.

He was trying so hard to kick the habit.  It started in college and now the problem had only gotten worse.  From late nights in the dorm to even later mornings in his apartment, Dan couldn't escape from it.  It gave him a high like nothing else could.


Even though he knew that pirating music was illegal, he just couldn't stop.  The adrenaline that ran through his veins when he knew that he wasn't going to have to pay one cent for Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" was enough to keep him going for a long time.


Taking a break to rest his eyes from the computer screen's blinding light, Dan slumped down into his worn, mushy couch and turned the TV on.  Just reading the banner along the bottom of the 11 o'clock news show was enough to make him stop breathing for a second or two.  Moon County woman arrested for illegal music downloads, the banner screamed at him.  "I live in Moon County," was his first thought.  He staggered his invisible bearings for a moment and then chuckled at himself.  "Dan," he said aloud to himself, "Nothing's going to happen, man!  They'll never find you.  You have all your shit backed up on an external hard drive.  You can hide that.  They'll never find you."


He kept reassuring himself that they would never find him over the next several hours.  Dan worked from home as a freelance copy editor, which only helped to secure his addiction to pirating, since he never left his computer.  All day long, Dan typed and read and typed some more, and fixed and corrected.  He constantly thought back to the news report from the previous night.  Knowing where to find the best sources for news thanks to his job, Dan started looking around the Internet for a continuation of the story.


When he finally found it, that boulder of anxiety that sat in his stomach hours earlier returned.  When the cops looked through this woman's library of music, they discovered she easily had over 1,000 songs, none of which were paid for.  Even though pirating music had become more accepted over the last couple of years, it was still considered a crime since you were technically stealing the music.  Dan knew this.  He had edited stories about this.  He knew the implications he was facing.


He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.  "Dan," he said to himself in a stern and annoyed tone, "You're not going to jail for this.  They'll never find you, man.  That lady on the news?  That was just some freak accident!  Chill out!"


He took a deep breath, closed the Internet browser, and continued to edit the article he had been working on.


Later that night, Dan took his bowl of ramen soup to the couch and once again turned on his TV to find a continuation of the news report from last night.  Now the story was getting more and more real, and it was really scaring him.  A man, three doors down from where Dan lived, had now been arrested for the same thing as the lady the night before, pirating music.  The man's name was Avery.  Dan lost his appetite as the boulder returned.  Not only did Dan know Avery, as they were neighbors, Dan was the one who taught Avery how to pirate music.  "Shit!" Dan thought to himself in a panic.  Now, he knew he was next.  First, the same county, and then the same street?  What were the odds?  And of course, Dan was certain, Avery would tell the cops about him.  It was a way to take the heat off of him for the crime he committed.


All Dan wanted to do was find a way out.  He didn't want to go to jail, but he didn't want to lose all his music, either.  He began thinking places to go.  He couldn't go to any friends or family members, that'd be the first place anybody would try looking for  him.  Then an idea hit.  Dan was a copy editor, but for many different publications.  There wasn't a set few he was employed to work for; anytime someone needed something edited in a hurry, it got sent to Dan.  "I could hide in one of those offices," Dan thought to himself.  "They would never know which one to find me in!  And if I hide well enough, maybe they'd just give up the search for me entirely!  This plan has to work, I can't go to jail."


Dan set to packing up his things.  Thanks to his external hard drive, Dan was able to pack lighter and not worry about hauling a clunky computer with him as he was making his escape.  He packed some essentials, tooth brush, clean boxers, and his phone and phone charger.  He made sure to take his evidence, the external, with him in his backpack.


Dan knew right where to go.  He wasn't sure how the idea had popped into his head, but he knew it was fail-proof.  He would go to the office of the Wane County Digest, a small publication with a reader base of about 200.  Dan wasn't even sure why they needed him to edit their stuff, since that number of people wasn't really enough to worry about catching a few spelling errors, but it was money in his pocket.  And since he was on the payroll, Dan gave the security guard some excuse about needing to print a piece and having permission from the editor.  "So Mary said it was okay for you to come to her office at 10 o'clock at night to print something?" asked the portly night guard in a suspicious tone.  "Yes, she did.  You can call her right now, at 10 o'clock at night, if you want to, to confirm that," Dan said, hoping he seemed confident enough to throw the guard off his back.  It worked.  The guard shrugged and let Dan inside, and he quickly took off, looking for the safest place to hide.


He found a janitorial supply closet.  There wasn't a lot of space, but Dan just needed a place to hide long enough for the story to die out.  He crumpled himself up into a ball in the corner of the closet.  There were large pieces of cardboard, most likely used as potential idea boards in meetings, and Dan made himself a home behind them in his corner.  "There!" he thought, "Now nobody can find me."  He decided it was time to try and sleep, now that he was safe.  He did all he could to get comfortable, and finally began nodding off.  His mind started to wander.


Suddenly, his head snapped up, and his breath caught in his throat.  Now he remembered how he got the idea to come to the Wane County Digest.  The last story he had been editing, just before he saw the news report about Avery, was from the Wane County Digest.  Dan didn't even finish editing the story, because he was too set on getting out of the house.  He was in such a hurry that he left the unedited story up on his computer, which he hadn't taken with him.  Dan went numb for a second.  He wasn't sure what to do.  The guard downstairs was already suspicious enough, and if he tried to go anywhere else, the police would surely find him.  "Damn it!" he screamed inside his head, "I should have known better! Now they'll know where to find me.  I have to do something!"

Just then, the door to the supply closet opened, startling Dan.  A flashlight peered inside, looking for him.  "Wait!  I see something!" called the voice carrying the flashlight.  The light caught the reflection on Dan's shoe buckle.  A hand moved the cardboard Dan was hiding behind.  It was a cop.  The jig was up.  "You Dan Lester?" the thundering voice asked.  A cowardly "Yes" escaped from Dan's mouth.  "Come with me, sir" the thunder said.  Dan stood up, and became face to face with a police officer he had seen on the news carrying Avery and the woman out of their houses.  "Come with me, son," the cop said.  "We have a lot to talk about.  Avery Collins says you can enlighten us about stealing music."  Behind the cop stood the guard from downstairs.  "I knew you weren't trying to print something.  So I called for some backup.  Nice try, punk."


Dan sighed.  No more running.  He was caught.  As the cop cuffed him and escorted him out of the building, Dan was at least grateful there was no camera to capture the moment.  It was time to face the music.


The end.

Prompt: Intro and Prompt 1

Much like my book reviews, in order to keep up with my resolutions and write more this year, I've taken on writing prompts.  When I was in high school, I took a creative writing class, and everyday we were given a different prompt to write about.  This eventually made me a better writer, and this very class is what inspired my college major of journalism.  In keeping with becoming a better writer, I've found a page of 365 writing prompts to follow this year.  I'm not going to promise that I write everyday, or that my writing is award-winning, but I really want to try this.  Here goes nothing!

First prompt: The wind howled through the window. The girl sat huddling her knees waiting for the storm to be over.

It was a dark and stormy night.  Outside Abby's bedroom window, the naked tree branch slapped the glass.   It woke her from an otherwise restful sleep.  Normally, Abby could sleep through storms like these, and they even often comforted her.  But not tonight.  Tonight would be different from any storm she had experienced before.


The wind howled like a wolf against the brick and mortar of her house.  Banging her head against the pillow, and finding that she couldn't go back to sleep, Abby decided that getting a glass of milk from the kitchen would help.  She pulled the warm covers back and traded them for a cold floor against her bare feet.  She walked through the darkness of the house, relying not on light but rather on her 16 years of living there to guide her to the kitchen.  The light nearly blinded her as she opened the door of the fridge and fumbled for the carton of milk.  After pouring herself a glass, Abby drank the milk and headed back to her room, already feeling more at ease and ready to go back to bed.


The bright red numbers of her alarm clock told her it was nearly 4 in the morning.  She groaned, hating having the burden of trying to go back to sleep.  The drops of rain against the window, like other storms, seemed comforting to her, and she quickly began to listen to their lullaby and drift off.


An alarm began screaming in the distance.  Abby jolted up in her bed, recognizing the sound to be a tornado siren.  Crack!  The same naked tree branch that had awakened her minutes ago was now reaching for her through the window it had broken into.  Abby ran from her bed and into her closet.  She could hear things like the strong and menacing wind that was swirling around the house.  Her parents were calling for her to come down to the basement with them, but fear had paralyzed Abby and she couldn't move.  The new hole in her window allowed the elements that were raging outside to find a home in Abby's room.  The wind howled through the window.  Abby sat in her closet, huddling her knees, waiting and praying for the storm to be over.


Woosh!  Her closet's French doors swung open, and Abby was being pulled against her will by the suction of the wind.  She tried holding onto the doorway of the closet, but she couldn't hold on forever.  Her fingers finally gave, and she went hurtling through the air toward to broken window.


Buzz buzz, went the alarm clock.  Abby rose up in bed, dripping with sweat.  Instinctively, she took her hands and felt herself to make sure she was still in one piece.  She looked around the room to see the lemon-colored sunbeams of early morning streaming into her room.  Nothing was broken, not even the window.  Things were not strewn about, and everything was as it should be.  Abby breathed a long and heavy sigh of relief.  While she was getting dressed for school, Abby noticed something strange.  There was a glass on her bedside table with the creamy residue of milk on the inside of it.  "Was it a dream?" she wondered to herself.  She shrugged, took the glass to the kitchen, and hoped tonight's dream would simply be better.


The end.

Bonjour, 2012

Wow, another year down.  2011 actually went by really fast for me.  Usually years don't go by fast, instead it's weeks or months that seem to zoom as they pass.  But 2011 was really quick, apparently.

2011 brought a lot of good things for me.  We got Bonnie, and Justin and I took our first married trip for our anniversary up to D.C., and I got my big haircut (I hope to get another haircut soon, my hair is sort of driving me crazy).  It was a good year.  It started out bad, and sparked one of the worst fights Justin and I have ever had.  It's been a unique year of learning and taking and giving.  I wrapped up a lot of loose ends and gained new insights and experiences.  I hope this new year will be just as good and eye-opening and sweet.


As always, I plan to make some resolutions to keep for the upcoming year.  I've made an outline for the resolutions for this year, however.  First, I'm only going to make 5.  Usually every year I get carried away and make many more than 5, and end up feeling obligated to honor all of them, or I just forget them entirely.  I feel like 3 could be sufficient, but, depending on what they are, may not be enough.  So, I compromise with 5.

Here's what I hope to finish/accomplish/do in 2012:

1. Pray more.  This past year, I got back into a praying routine, something I hadn't done a whole lot since college.  I hope to continue that more this year.
2. Finish scanning pictures from the red binder and give it back to Connie.  Some months ago, probably even a year, I borrowed this red binder from Justin's mom that had all of his baby pictures in it with the intention of scanning the pictures so we could have them.  I still haven't done this, and intend on completing this task this year.
3. Read and write more.  I made this resolution last year, and although I did read more than in 2010, I didn't write hardly at all.  I kept my blogs updated pretty regularly, but didn't partake in any recreational writing, which I something I really want to get into the groove of!  I also really want to finish up my backlog of books to read.  This time last year, I read two books in the time span of one week.  I was so proud of myself.  And then it took me almost six months to read the third book, and it's been an uphill battle since.
4. Worry less.  I've realized this a is a huge problem of mine.  I wasn't really aware of how much I worried until this year and I'd really like to worry less.  To say not to worry at all is just unrealistic, but I'd sure like to worry and stress out a LOT less than I do.
5. Be a more proactive housewife.  In other words, get shit done.  I got real slack this year.  This time one year ago, I had been married all of a month and a half and was getting increasingly cozy with being a lazy housewife.  This trend continued for most of the year and I don't want a repeat.  I want to be more proactive, and clean when things are dirty and put things up when they're clean.  I need to be more on it with my chores.

This is some awesome weather to bring in 2012 with.  It's all of 66 degrees outside and Mike, Justin, Bonnie and I are sitting here with the windows open enjoying it.  I say, out with the old (or bad) and in with the new (or good)!

(Oh, and just for the record, I'm not on the Mayan bandwagon.  I think it's a load of crap.)

Here's to 2012!  /clink.