#5 On my list, Get Maggie to watch a documentary

So this was my #5 goal on my list and I got to complete it last night. However, it was the most boring documentary that I have ever watched. Lately my friends and I have been on a Jane Austen kick, watching Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility and anything else that can come our way about her. So I thought that this would be an OK, but poor Maggie had to suffer through the worlds most boring, dry, and mind numbing documentary about Jane Austen. And truthfully the creators of the documentary made it more about her family in general then her specifically, which was irritating in and of itself. So one goal was completed. I wish I could speak more positively about it, but mainly this post is an appology to Mags for ruining her first documentary experience with that horrible film and for probably driving her away from them altogether. Hopefully not, but I do have to give her props for staying awake. Way to go girl!

This also count as the first of my 30 documentaries to watch as well, but obviously the review is bad, and I let Netflix know about it as well. That's 30 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.

Hungry Girl (Poem #1)

The last item on my list has me writing 30 new poems. Poetry is a comfort for me that I haven't done in a while. It's a way of communitcating that has always held a certain amount of solace for me. The poem below is inspired by a situation I now find myself in as a person living with Celiacs Disease. It's a poem that was inspired my my frustration of wanting to eat the foods that I can't and the complications of trying to make people understand how hard it is to deal with. My friends are truly great about supporting me (so I want to extend this thank you to them as they read it). The poem was just bore from my own frustration, mostly with me. Since I feel so week most times, and I just want to cave in and succumb to the temptation. Maybe it's a memorium to all the foods that I like and can longer enjoy as well. In any case I hope ya'll enjoy it.

Hungry Girl
GRRR, I'm a hungry girl that just wants to eat,
pasta and bread, now that would be sweet.
With cake in the oven, and cookies galore,
what more is better that I could ask for.

GRRR, I'm a hungry girl and I like my carbs,
but if I should eat them I would fall hard.
For gluten and wheat are my two dangerous foes,
that seek to destroy the life I now know.
Their friends rye and barley are not far behind,
with all these restrictions I might loose my mind.

GRRR, I'm a hungry girl. "Not salad again"!
At least the dressing will not make it bland.
The comfort of getting food that is fast,
could ruin my insides and then I would crash.

GRRR, I'm a hungry girl. Pierogies I miss.
Their cheesy, doughy goodness well it's just pure bliss.
But alas it's just food, I won't hug me good night,
and for better, or worse, I like my life.

GRRR, I'm a hungry girl and it's hard to not to cry,
when others around me can't understand why.

I don't mean to whine or be such a pill,
but the foods that I love will make me ill.
It's at times like this that good friends matter most,
and those that care to help give me hope.

GRRR, I'm a hungry girl but I'll survive,
'cause with veggies and fruits I'll have a long life.
For who know what yet the Lord has in store,
He's been good so far, so of course I want more.

GRRR, I'm a hungry girl, and old chapters done,
and old life is over, and a new one begun.

#27 on my list, Try 30 new dishes (#2)

For my birthday last week Kali made me a wonderful, and flourless, cake!!! She even made raspberry sauce to counter act the sweetness of the cake. IT WAS AWESOME!!! So here is the recipe for ya'll to try for yoursleves. Enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS:
-1/2 cup water
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-3/4 cup white sugar
-18 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
-1 cup unsalted butter
-6 eggs

DIRECTIONS:
-Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
-Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside.
-In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
-Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate.
-Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
-Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water.
-Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
-Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
-Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
-Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet.
-Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

NOTE:
It is important to let it chill all night. Unless you want pudding;) Seriously though, when it's done it should have the consistency of a mouse or cheese cake.

The last year of my 20's! (Part 2)

So it's been a couple days since my birthday celebration, but it was a great one! You can't beat a good evening of gal pals and giggles (unless of course that evening were to be spent with someone even more special, but alas that will have to wait). Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

The day started awesomely because I didn't have to go to work! My boss is gracious enough to allow his employees to have a day off for our birthdays, and so I got to sleep in and enjoy my morning. From the day that I knew I was taking that day off for my birthday I knew what I was going to do so it wasn't a fly by the seat of your pants kind of day (so to speak), but it also wasn't calculated to the "n"th degree either.

My first stop was to attend the chapel service at the Christian school that my church has. I've always heard that the chapel services are open to anyone who wants to go, but since it's so closely associated with the school I think people assume it's only for the school kids. Personally speaking I think that the lesson Pastor Jeremiah gave that day was one of the best that I've heard, period. However, I wasn't prepared for his little twist of looking at our notes to make sure we were paying attention. I know it was all an exercise for the kids to learn how to pay attention to what he was talking about, but still. I'm glad I passed;). Seriously though I'm glad that I have those note to refer back to.

Then I was off and running errends before my lunch, with Shannon! We had a fun afternoon at lunch and the salad that we each had could have fed a small country. I was a wonderful Asian inspired salad with rice, peanuts, and chicken with a Asian vinagrette. YUMMO! But honestly it had been a while since we had the opportunity to fill up an afternoon full good conversation. We've gotten to do it a little, but nearly 3 uniterrupted hours was great. We then went to one of the local produce stands, followed by a stop to the Holly Farm owned by some friends of ours. Little did I know that I was sending clues to my friends in there as to what they wanted to pick out for me for my birthday. Which was really sweet of them to pay attention like that. I was just walking around the shop and perusing the items and ended up with some great items 'cause of it.

However, it was dinner and bowling that finished off a great day. Sharon made some stir fry (which is one of my faves) and Kali made a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. The bowling alley as fun and even though bowling is not for everyone not everyone they were all really good sports about it, and high score of the night was made by me at 141. I think that if we had played another game I would have done better, but we were already at $45, so it was worth it for us to go back to Kalis for cake and hanging out. I could go on to regail you all with the items that I got for my birthday, but those were just an added bonus for me, the day was really all about spending time with my friends and having fun, which we always seem to know how to do really well.

The last year of my 20's! (Part 1)

Today, on my first post for the month of May, I get to revel in my Birthday!!! This is the last year of my 20's and I have to say that it has started off quite well. Truthfully, although don't presume to speak for everyone, the older you get the less you care about getting "toys" and the more you care about those people that surround your life, and if you are a person that likes to celebrate another year of life, those celebrations are made the most special by the people you get to celebrate it with.

It started with a call from my dear friend Abbey and then transferred over to work where Pat brought in breakfast and Sarah brought me flowers, which was nice of them to do. I received emails and text messages from all of my friends. I got cards from my Mom, my Pastor, and a few other friends. I even got an email from my Aunt Elaine. And of course there was the phone call from my Dad. Which, even though it was at the end of my day, was well worth the wait. It really is the small moments that make up a great and special day. Today was mine and all the special moments that made up today made me thankful that I get to enter my 29th year of life with good friends and a happy heart.

So even though I am posting this on May 1st, I will have a continuing story for tomorrow as tomorrow evening is going to be bowling night with the girls:) (I always like to joke that I'm genetically predisposed to bowling, as that is where one set of my grand parents met each other, while another grandfather actually worked in a bowling alley). Ha Ha Ha, I always love telling a good story. Stay tuned.