Beauty in the darkness

On Mallard's and my walk this morning, we took the route by the pond.  Right now in Georgia, it is fall.  The leaves are changing colors and dropping from the trees, the temperature is cooling down, and things aren't as bright.  I have been reading this book...

It is incredible.  It is a book about living fully and being thankful for EVERYTHING.  Even the hard and ugly stuff.  One of the topics in the book is about beauty amongst the darkness.  How God's love is transformative.  Well, on the walk, I saw this beautiful flower.  Beauty in the midst of bleakness.  I don't even know if it is supposed to be blooming at this time of the year.  But, it made me smile and think about God's great amazing unchanging love for us.

"All good comes out of dark places, out of darkness God spoke forth life, out of the darkness of the cross  the world transforms into new light." - 1000 Gifts

Pancakes!

I have been trying to perfect the art of pancakes for about 2 years now.  I either cook them for too long or not enough.  Sometimes I have the heat too high and sometimes low.  So, it is really an experimental project for me.  I finally nailed them this morning.  Growing up, every Monday morning was pancake morning for my siblings and I.  Mom would make them, we would eat them, and the dogs would eat the leftovers.  Same for this morning.  I made them, I ate them (didn't have anyone to share them with, sad), and the dogs ate the leftovers.  So here you go for pancakes...

You will need (I haven't learned how to make homemade pancakes, that's next on the agenda)...

1. Some sort of pancake mix.  I have been using Trader Joe's pancake mix

2. Depending on how many pancakes you want, these measurements of ingredients could change (just follow the instructions on the back of the box)

3. Eggs

4. Water

5. Any other deliciousness you want to add

6. Make them, you want to wait to flip them until they start having those little bubbles on top, also don't flip them more than once, I have been told this isn't good, watch them rise too - it's so cool

7. Once they are ready, put them on a plate you have set aside and immediately butter them

8. Stack the pancakes on top of each other, this not only keeps them warm, but also allows the butter to melt even better than you can imagine

9. Once all done with your pancakes, eat them, enjoy them, and feed the lefts overs to your furry friends, you'll be their favorite person ever (oh don't put chocolate chips in your furry friends' pancakes, you might end up at the vet hospital later : / )

10. And I forgot, syrup, go ahead and dabble in it

These combinations are wonderful... 

Banana, Chocolate Chip, and Walnuts (you could leave the chocolate chips out if you want)

Blueberry is always a fave

Blueberry/Banana

Chocolate Chip

Combinations I want to try

Blueberry/Lemon

Cinnamon Apple

Enjoy!

The beginning of recipes

So, I love cooking when I am in the mood to do so.  And I love eating.  So, I have decided to start sharing some good food ideas.  Most of the recipes come from my mother, and I will put them up every so often (probably not that often).  And I have no idea where she gets them from, if I figure it out, I will reference it.  This first one is for breakfast.  I love breakfast.  I would definitely say I am a breakfast snob for sure.  Brian and I tried to eat at a place in Auburn for breakfast, but they were A - out of biscuits and B - out of grits, so we left.  It's all about the combinations for me.  You will learn more about my favorite combinations soon.  But here are the first two things that I will show you.

Bell Pepper Egg-in-a-Hole

I have been trying to make fried eggs for a long time now, and I finally nailed it with this recipe.  If you love fried eggs and love bell peppers, then this is for you.  If you go to the link, they explain in detail how to make it.  They also use cheese.  I haven't tried it with the cheese on it quite yet though.  Cheese isn't exactly in my daily diet plan unfortunately.  But, I am quite positive that it makes it even more delicious. 

Pair the fried egg with an English muffin, and you've got a delicious breakfast waiting for you.  Don't worry if you don't get this on the first try.  Trust me it took me several times of trying it to nail it.  This was my first attempt...

Still extremely yummy.  Enjoy!

Update

I wanted to update yall on life thus far.  As you know, I am moving to Park City.  I am looking for places to stay at the moment and it has proved quite impossible so far.  Most places don't allow dogs and if they do they want a year lease so it is more expensive for 6 months.  So the process has been difficult.  Praying something will work out.

Secondly, these are the PhD programs I have applied to... University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Miami, Ohio State University, and University of Kansas.  Hoping that one will work out.  The professors at these universities only accept 1-2 students each year normally.  So the chances of getting in are stacked against me.  But, that is ok.  I am applying to three Masters programs as well - Auburn, University of Houston, and a place in Boston connected with the New England Children's Center.  So, surely something will work out.  If not, there is something better waiting for me.

The dogs are still good.  Not too much going on this way.  Auburn plays LSU today.  War Eagle!

Substitute Teaching

The past two days I have been subbing at my old high school.  It's weird.  I have also come to realize that I am now not just 4 BUT 8 years older than the freshmen.  I really am Ms. Foster to them.  Strange.  Anyway...

Two days of substitute teaching = 201 pages read in the Staircase by Ann Rinaldi.

When you go to Atlanta...

I promised my friend Heather that I would blog when I got back from my adventure in Auburn.  So this is my feeble attempt to come up with something top of the line.  I had a wonderful weekend.  I started in Atlanta and met with a man about the potential of teaching his employees English in Costa Rica.  I then got to spend time with my wonderful friend Heather.  We go to great restaurants when I am in Atlanta.  Here are two that I highly recommend. 

This is place #1.  It's called The Vortex.  It serves burgers primarily, but is a fun bar atmosphere with awesome food.  There are two locations I do believe.  I highly recommend it. 

This is location #2.  Ha, it is another burger joint naturally called Flip Burger.  This place is apparently owned by a guy on a cooking show.  It was good.  Going to have to try a milkshake next time.  Also, their sweet potatoes tots are awesome. 

And then I picked up BRIAN at the airport the next morning to go to Birmingham (visited my siblings and watched them play their collegiate sports, Scott - tennis, Kelly - volleyball, Me - scholar)/Auburn.  We had a wonderful time.  Here are some pictures that will explain the greatness of the weekend.  

Here is Stacie!

War Eagle Fly Down the Field

Brian's First Roll at Toomer's right after the game

 

War Eagle!!

I must say that I had a great time returning to my alma mater.  Downtown being extremely packed, seeing great friends, falling asleep when everyone else is wide awake, drinking beer at mellow mushroom, attempting to sing the alma mater after the game (normally I sing God Bless America with Cameron, we never learned the real words because we kept winning last season so we didn't want to jinx it... that's right, God Bless America won Auburn the National Championship folks), tailgating, camping in Chewacla, Panda/Niffers, Opelika football game, attempting to eat breakfast at Taylor's, laughing, boda geta, fight song, missing Cameron (game day partner for 3 seasons), Waffle House, rolling the trees, spending Brian's first actual football game at Auburn not in the band with him, and seeing friends again of course.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Brian is coming to Park City too????  Hello permanent ski vacation!

I've been thinking lately...

I try to avoid driving at night because I get headaches which lead to migraines, naturally.  But, last night I did. And as I was driving, I saw a traffic light. 

I started thinking about how cool the green and red lights blended together at night, and then I started thinking about Christmas of course and how the stoplight is like Christmas.  So, there is red and green in the stoplight and red and green are also the colors of Christmas.  Red means stop and green means go.  And then it dawned on me the importance of the stoplight in relation to Christmas.  It is a monumental holiday because it was when Jesus was born.  His birth requires us to stop in reverence and praise.  Like the shepherds, they stopped what they were doing in wonder of the star.  But Christmas is also like the green light.  Because Christ came, we are given the green light in our lives.  Because He came, we have life and life to the full.  Talk about an awesome stoplight in our lives.

That probably made no sense at all.  But that's ok, it makes sense to me.  I don't know where the yellow light comes into play yet, haven't quite thought that one over yet.  But when I mull it over, I will get back to you.  

Merry Christmas, far in advance!

Dogs

Ok, so I just need to blog about this.  I have been the ultimate mom figure this weekend.  Now, I don't have kids, just dogs.  The glorious thing about dogs is that when they wake you up at 4:48 in the morning, you can just let them go to the bathroom and then stick them in their kennels and continue to sleep.  (If you cannot tell, my parents left me again to go watch Kelly play volleyball, so I am dog sitting).  So, after I wake up in the morning, I feed them, and then I take them walking.  Most people don't have to walk four dogs, which is nice, BUT if you are wanting to get a bit more exercise, go 4.  I take the old dog (Bess) and the tripod dog (Mallard) on their walk first.  They go at about the same pace.  I then put them back in the house after about a 20-30 minute walk and grab the big dogs, namely Gus and Milly.  And walk, well run, them.  So then I come back, make a pot of coffee, and fix breakfast. 

I then move on to more motherly tasks.  I decide that it is time to take the pile of clothes laying outside my room and put them where they are supposed to go.  I also decide that it is about time that I unpacked my trunk from camp.  The clothes now have a musty smell, so I then decided to do laundry.  At this point, I decided it is a good idea to make sure Mallard is still in the vicinity (she has not been trained on the electric fence).  I look for her, can't find her outside, so I round the corner and I find her chewing on something.  To my horror, it was a mouse.  And its innards were out.  And she was just snacking away.  Ugh, disgusting.  I got that mouse and threw it away.  3 minutes later, Mallard brings in another dead mouse.  This one is bigger and had not been dug into yet.  So I'm freaking out.  I get that mouse and throw him away too.  I then go outside to see where she is getting all these mice and I find her chewing on a head.  A sad decapitated mouse head.  Now I am so sick to my stomach that my poor quesadilla waiting to be eaten makes me want to toss my cookies.

So moral of the story, my stomach is very upset right now.

Someday my dreams will come

Ok, as I was singing that line in my head (someday my dreams will come),  I realized that it doesn't say dream but rather prince. 

Well, sorry Snow White, I like my version better at the moment.  Folks, my dream has come.  I have been dreaming about this since 3rd grade when I strapped my first pair of boots and skis on, when I met my first instructor, and when I first learned how to pizza.  I fell in love with skiing.  14 years later, from perfecting my pizza wedge to learning how to enjoy moguls to writing a research paper in 9th grade about a future career, my dream has come true.  Yes, I am doing it.  I am moving to Park City, Utah, and I am going to be a ski instructor.  Some may laugh, my parents included, BUT I am about to embark on an adventure that I have been dreaming of my entire life.  I am putting on my slippers (ski boots) and donning the uniform.  Hold onto your seats folks, it's going to be a crazy ride.