Fall is HERE!

Fall is officially here, and I'm loving every bit of it! There are so many things I love about this season, just to list a few...
1) Cooler weather (I get to bust out my boots and hoodies, yes!)
2) Beautiful fall colors. My drive down K-10 when I visit home is definitely much more scenic
3) Crunchy leaves (Yes I'm one of those who like to step on a pile of freshly fallen extra crunchy leaves)
4) Pumpkin tastes & scents
5) All of the scary movies that start playing on channels. A little bit weird but I actually really enjoy scary movies! (with the exception of Wrong Turn...sick nastiest movie ever created and I will never ever visit west virginia because of it) Of course the night after I watch one I need to fall asleep with the tv on with something happier like some good 'ol Friends seasons.
6) Halloween & Thanksgiving
This season doesn't get much better. I also have started watching one of my favorite movies that I only watch during this time: Hocus Pocus. A classic. By the time Halloween hits I probably watch this movie a total of 50 times. I'm a sucker for Kenny Ortega movies (Newsies, Hairspray, HSM...what? did I just say HSM?) : ) Not that I know any of the dances from HSM or anything...

This week and weekend has been so amazing. First off, my birthday was this past week and I've never felt so loved by my wonderful friends! I received a package full of mallows, some leg warmers (yes, it may not be the 80s but I still rock the leg warmers), baking goods, a sewing machine from my dad (I have not sewed my 7th grade sewing class where I made a hideous butterfly pillow. We'll see how well that gift turns out), and a birthday mocha coffee was awaiting me when I got to class on wednesday. Plus multiple texts, voice messages, and fb posts to complete it. Thanks everyone! Then this week flew by and by the time I knew it, it was Friday! I. love. Fridays. First, I have time to make myself a legit breakfast other than a bowl of cereal. This Friday's breakfast choice...greek yogurt blueberry pancakes! For those of you who might be like me and enjoy cooking/baking here is the deeeeeelicious recipe!

Ingredients:

8 oz. Greek yogurt

7 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 large eggs (I use Egg Beaters instead)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon to taste

Directions:

Place Greek yogurt in a medium bowl. Add flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.

Whisk eggs in a separate bowl. Add vanilla to eggs and stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into the Greek yogurt-flour mixture. Stir together gently. Add in as much cinnamon as you like. (i love me lots of cinnamon)

Pour the batter onto a griddle sprayed with cooking spray until golden brown. Eat up & enjoy!

mmm-hmmm!

Today was a perfect way to spend a sunny fall day! It started off with going to church in Topeka, where in the college session we talked about trusting in the Lord. How more perfect than to hear that right now when I have no clue where life is taking me after I graduate?! I just need to completely fall back on him rather than taking matters into my own hands, and trust that God will take me where he needs me to be. After a great college session and regular church I headed to Barnes & Noble for some study time where I enjoyed my 2nd pumpkin spice latte of the season from starbucks and read up on some Postsecret. (If you haven't read through this book or blog, I highly suggest it) Then I headed out to Gary's Berries to meet up with the rest of the church for the rest of the evening and hung out with some great folks. They had a corn maze (shaped like a hippo......what the crap does a hippo have to do with fall?....Fail) that took me at least an hour to get through. I had never been in one before and I definitely felt like I was in the movie Signs and some creepy alien monster might pop out at any moment. And just like me and not thinking ahead, I was wearing what I wore to church: a dress, tights, boots, and nooooo jacket. Needless to say, halfway through the maze I was FREEZING. I thought my fingers might have needed to be amputated by the end of the night. (Thank you Adam for the jacket otherwise they might have had to be!) Coldness aside once the sun set, it was such a fun, fall atmosphere. Although in my opinion it would have been better with a bonfire and some smores : )

Thanks Summer for hiding my neck and making my face look like a blob : )

How tall this fall?! For David, not that tall.

It lies. It says I'm 5'1, I'm at least 5'2.

I'm hoping this week goes just as quickly. Bring on this next weekend of fun! Bachelorette party, Worlds of Fun, and hanging with my little sister who has been in AK for the past 6 months. Get excited!

For your movie quote challenge, should you choose to accept it... "You're a complex Freudian hallucination having something to do with my mother and I don't know why you have wings, but you have very lovely legs and you're a very nice tiny person and what am I saying, I don't know who my mother was; I'm an orphan and I've never taken drugs because I missed the sixties, I was an accountant."

Have a great week and happy Fall!

Caucasian means white, right?

Random story to start off today's blog: Last week during some volunteer work where I pretty much just hang out and play with elementary kiddos, we had them fill out a questionaire. Every now and then while filling it out they had a question so we would help them, but another volunteer apparently did not know the answer to the question a girl asked her. I did not hear what the little girl asked the other volunteer, but I looked up as I heard the volunteer say "I'm not sure." She looked at me and said, "Caucasian means white, right?" (side note: shes a really cute and sweet girl but, seriously?) I blankly stare at her, considering she is a college student and more than likely has had to check boxes herself where she should know race terminology, not to mention the fact that she IS white herself. If you're a college student and don't know the answer to that question, I can't help you. After a few seconds I realize I'm probably giving her a rude glare, so I smile and just say "yeahhhh." What else can you say really?

This weekend was just what the doctor ordered. It was very laid back and chill, which was MUCH needed after this week of school and practicum. Friday started off with me getting my first pumpkin spice latte of the season from Starbucks (the first of many during Fall most likely) then heading out to Panera to work on some homework. This is normally how I spend the first few hours of my Fridays: PTL for no class on Friday! Then Friday night I hung out with some girlfriends where we started out making some dinner and then headed to the Union to see Sex and the City 2 for $2. (sweet deal!) For dinner we made pumpkin enchiladas...I know, sounds disgusting at first, but they were soooo good! So good, that I'm going to share the recipe so you can enjoy them too : ) You won't be disappointed!

3/4 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

One 10 oz can of red enchilada sauce

1 can pure pumpkin

1 c. black or kidney beans

Large bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 1/2 tbsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 cup shredded cheese

3 large whole wheat tortillas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sauté onion and garlic in a pan sprayed with cooking spray. Stir in enchilada sauce. Add pumpkin and stir until combined. Add cilantro, cumin and chili powder.

Spread a light layer of sauce on the bottom of an 8×8 or 9×9 pan. Fill tortillas with an even amount of sauce and beans. Roll tortillas and place in the pan with the folded edges facing down to keep them closed. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese melts.

Saturday I went to go watch the KU band day parade on mass, then headed home to see and celebrate my dad for his birthday. For his real birthday he was in Belgium on business, and he brought back some seriously delicious chocolate. Its definitely a good thing I only took one of these back to Lawrence with me.

After dinner we had a fabulous father/daughter talk about life after graduation in May. (Who doesn't love those) Wayyyyyy too many options to think about right now! But I always love and appreciate the advice he has to offer. I need to decide if/when/where I want to go to grad school within the next couple months and I'm way too indecisive to figure it out on my own. So if any readers have advice of any sort it would be gladly appreciated : )

Today I finally got to attend the church I interned for during the summer where I was reunited with my fellow lady interns Aly and Karly. LOVE them! Not to mention I got to see and catch up with some other wonderful folks. Then I went out to lunch with the fabulous one & only Summer. We went to Jose Peppers, realizing half way through our meal we should tell the waitress that we're celebrating my birthday. (which could be partly true, even though my birthday isn't until tuesday) ...
Me- Oh and we're here celebrating my birthday
Waitress- Oh alright! Now we don't sing to you, but you can have your choice of any of our desserts on the house.
Me- (You mean I get a free dessert without having the embarassing moment of being sung to in a public place by strangers who will most likely sing out of tune? SOLD!) I think I'll manage.
Waitress- How old are you turning?
Me- 23.
Waitress- Really?! You look so much younger!
Me- yaaaaa, thanks. (I'm told I'll appreciate that later, but for now I'd like to not look 17. Thanks)

For our free dessert we decided on sopapillas!

With the above picture and the picture below, me and the sopapillas have a love/hate relationship for its sugary, fatty goodness.

<3 this girl!

I hope you all have a wonderful, stress-free week! I know I will!

Movie Quote Guess of the day: "Tigers love pepper...they hate cinnamon."

Congrats to Renee for being guessing the correct movie, and for being the only one haha so she gets some homemade baked goods!

Hellooooo Blogging World!

Well, I have given in to the blog world. Starting this blog actually reminds me a lot of the old blog days of Xanga…does anyone else remember Xanga? Oh goodness gracious, those wonderfully awkward Jr. High times. Anyways, I had fun thinking of a title for my blog. If you know me well enough, you may know one of my ultimate favorite scents is marshmallows. Mmmmm-hmmmm! Whenever I’m in a grocery store and wander through the baking isle (which is only about every time I head to the grocery store : ) ), I can’t help but pick up a bag of mallows, press my nose against the bag, and take a big whiff. I don’t even care other people look strangely at me, totally worth it! I would highly recommend it. Forget about the roses, sometimes you just need to stop and smell the mallows.

Today I have been staring at my computer screen for majority of the day working on homework. Which is probably why I decided to start some blogging…I needed a good break and distraction.  In the afternoon though the sun decided to grace us with her presence, and it was just too nice to not go enjoy it! I stopped my homework and went for a run (perfect way to de-stress!) while jamming out to some...are you ready for this?...Ke$ha. I was against her at first - considering I think she has no vocal talent what-so-ever, but now she has become one of my music guilty pleasures (alongside Miley Cyrus). I blame my roommate for that one. Well, I seem to always see some interesting things on my runs. Ranging from kids on leashes to creepy old men winking at me while smoking pipes. Today on my run I ran past this older couple who were actually wearing matching shirts. Not just matching shirts, matching polo shirts. No wait, matching pink polo shirts. Really? Really? ‘Real men wear pink’? You be the judge.

I have recently discovered the blog Cake Wrecks. Its a blog where people send in pictures of wrecked, creepy, awful handwriting and grammar, professional cakes. Needless to say, its very entertaining. Here are some classics. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2010/09/internal-wisdom.html  Sometimes though, the website will also display cakes that are seriously awesome. So if you're a Lost fan (and if you aren't, you should be) you will definitely enjoy these! http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2010/05/lost-sweets.html 

I’m thinking that I should end every post with a movie quote. Given if I get some followers, then on random blog days, if you guess correctly I will pick at random and, out of the goodness of my heart, bake you some delicious treats. So here is today’s movie quote:

“Hey look, it’s the Leaning Tower of Cheesa!”

Some countdowns that I am very much looking forward to!:

This Tuesday - GLEE returns! (its about time)

October 5th - Beauty & The Beast is released from the vault (also about time!)

October 8th - Katie's bachelorette party

October 14th - Fall break (much needed)

October 16th - Katie & Tyler's wedding!

October 27th - Spring Awakening (so excited to finallllllly see this!)