1 down... 4 to go.

Well I took my first exam today... Psychology of Gender. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't cumulative and the material wasn't excruciating.

Next up: Sports Ethics Monday, Sensation & Perception Tuesday (really NOT looking forward to this one), Accounting Thursday, and Philosophy Friday.

I realized the other day that this will be first first final exam in Accounting ever. In high school I exempted both Acct 1 & 2. And the professor I had for ACCT 203 & 204 allowed you to exempt if you had an A. This is very rare in college, and I was lucky. I guess it's good though that this is my first final (ironically my next to last exam ever). The problem is... I'm not sure how to study for it. Ugh.

Happy Earth Day

Well today is Earth Day, I've never really done anything for Earth day that I can remember. Maybe in elementary school we planted trees? When did I plant "Angel Oak"?

Anyways, I figured maybe I'd start to try to recycle more. And by more I mean actually starting. I don't know why we don't... but it's easy enough to put the cans and bottles in a separate bin and put it out every other Monday.

Something else I struggle with is the plastic bag issue. I wouldn't mind bringing my own canvas bags to the store. I understand that plastic bags take up room in the land fill and create a lot of gasses and whatnot to produce. But then what would I put in my little trash cans? I figure that's recycling, right? So I'll continue to get plastic bags as long as they are offered. Until they take over the house like they tend to do.


PS, Steven has a third in-person interview/test/observe what the other customer service analysts do on Friday. Woo hoo!!!

Fingers crossed!

Well tomorrow is Steven's second interview with Blackbaud for the customer support analyst position. It's another phone interview, this time with the hiring manager. I think it'll go well, but I'm sure he'll be nervous.

Think good thoughts around 10:30 am.

My First Plane Trip

As I was loading pictures from my camera onto my computer I realized I hadn't posted pictures from San Diego. I'm slipping!

This was my first plane trip and while I was a little nervous, I was also excited. I had always wanted to fly and even though I heard it can be a hassle, I also heard it can be fun. I wouldn't quite describe it as fun as I would uneventful... in a good way!

This is Mama and me on the plane in Charleston. It's hard to tell but we had enjoyed a big glass of wine just before boarding. I wasn't too nervous at this point, but I think what helped was knowing I got to see Connie and Alexis at the end of the trip. And the wine.

I really like this picture. This is somewhere near Atlanta. We were really high up there!

Alexis sucking her left thumb. We woke her up a little earlier than she's used to. Whoops. What can I say, we were on Charleston time.

I love this video, it's Alexis doing her low crawl.

This is the view near Connie and Josh's apartment. Look at those mountains! It really is beautiful out there.

More mountain views on "the 5". I don't think I could get used to that. I just don't see myself saying, "yeah and then you get on the 26 and go x miles until you get to exit whatever."

This is downtown San Diego, as seen from the tram. That is a fun excursion because you go all around the city and they tell you neat facts. You can get off on any stops and just hop on the next tram. We did this in St. Augustine and really enjoyed it. The bad thing is that we didn't have enough time to do or see a lot since we were only there 1 full day. I guess we'll have to go back.

This is the front of the San Diego Zoo. We didn't go in, but it is a stop on the tram. I thought this tree republican was so cute! Mama said, "oh take a picture for Jackie!" So here you go, Jackie Wacky!

Alexis having fun on the plane going back to Charleston. She does travel well and only got sort of fussy a few times.

The bad thing about the trip was actually a good thing to experience. Our flight was delayed leaving San Diego, but the flight from Atlanta was not. We got there with maybe 10 minutes to board. Oh did I mention we had to go from gate A to gate B? Gah!

The guy was slow getting the stroller to us. He was very apologetic which was nice, but it didn't stop the plane from leaving. Even the flight attendents from our flight missed the connecting flight to Charleston.

Luckily there was another flight... at 7:15... 3 hours later. We actually boarded around 7:45 and sat.. and sat.. and sat. Then a flight attendent came on the overhead saying they couldn't find the pilot. Seriously?! Isn't he the first one on? I mean really. So 45 minutes later we were off and got home close to 11 pm. We should have been home close to 5 pm.

Oh well, I experienced just about all the things that can go wrong in one fail swoop so next time I'll know.

All in all it was a good trip and I'm glad I went. Steven is ready to fly somewhere too. Maybe to Los Angeles when the Mariner moves?

Show plug: Barefoot Contessa

Barefoot Contessa on Food Network stars Ina Garten cooking for her friends and family. Connie and I tend to snark that her friends must be lazy because she's always hosting. But really, it is her show.

The thing I like about the show is that you can tell Ina really loves to cook and spend time making a wonderful meal for those she loves. That's how I feel too.

At first some of the things she makes seemed complicated, but when I want to put in the effort to make a great meal, her recipes are great. With that in mind I'm still a fan of Hamburger Helper and all-in-a-box meals, but you know what I mean.

Ina makes some awesome cakes, pies, and tarts. And what I like is she gets flour all over her kitchen. I don't like shows that don't get kind of messy because, well.. cooking can get messy. I mostly watch for her desserts, but there are some other dishes that look good. For example, Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic.

Thirsty Thursday

A drink I like to get when I'm out is the Seabreeze. It's very good and cheap because it's vodka, grapefruit juice and cranberry juice. If you want something sweeter a Baybreeze is the same, but with pineapple juice instead of grapefruit juice. I haven't tried it, but it sounds tasty.

I actually started to get that because during Jackie's company Christmas party we planned to go out to shoot pool. I told Erich I didn't know what drink to order since I don't drink beer. He said, "get a seabreeze... it's good and cheap". lol. So I did... and he was right!

I want to learn to bake too...

Not only am I wanting to learn to cook better, I also want to learn how to bake. Cooking and baking are two totally different animals.

With cooking it can be okay if you don't follow the recipe exactly or add more or less of something (with some exceptions like rice, it has to be 2:1 ratio no ifs, ands, or buts). With baking, if it calls for 1/4 teaspoon baking powder you better add 1/4 t... not 1/2 or 1/8. It is exact.

A few weeks ago Steven and I made cookies from scratch. They were very good.. and fun! I also want to learn how to bake a cake and make frosting from scratch. I'm sure it's not very hard. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with box mixes, but I'd like to try and make a cake myself.


So I'll get out my mixing bowl... but where did I put the measuring cup?



From LOL cats

Yum-O

I made one of my favorite dishes, Mac and Cheddar Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli, last night for dinner. I don't think I really have a favorite dish because it wouldn't be fair to name just one. Anyways, it's not that hard to do if you chop everything before rather than during cooking.

This is from 30 Minute Meals

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound chicken breast tenders, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 pound macaroni elbows
2 1/2 cups raw broccoli florets


Sauce
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
1 cup chicken stock
3 cups yellow sharp Cheddar
1 tablespoon prepared Dijon mustard


Place a pot of water on to boil for macaroni.

Heat a medium pan over medium to medium high heat. Add extra-virgin
olive oil and chicken and season with salt and pepper. Saute a couple of minutes
then add onion and cook another 5 to 7 minutes until onions are tender and
chicken is cooked through. Turn off heat and reserve.

To boiling pasta water, add pasta and salt to season the cooking water.
Cook 5 minutes, then add broccoli and cook 3 minutes more or until pasta is
cooked to al dente and florets are just tender.

While pasta cooks, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add butter and
melt, then add flour, cayenne and paprika and whisk together over heat until
roux bubbles then cook a minute more. Whisk in milk and stock and raise heat a
little to bring sauce to a quick boil. Simmer sauce to thicken, about 5 minutes.

Drain macaroni or pasta and broccoli florets. Add back to pot and add
chicken to the pasta and broccoli.

Add cheese to milk sauce and stir to melt it in, about a minute or so.
Stir in mustard and season sauce with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken
and broccoli and cooked pasta and stir to combine. Adjust seasonings, transfer
to a large serving platter and serve.

Notes on what I do: Even though the sauce is mentioned towards the middle, I start the sauce right away and let it simmer the whole time because it gets a little thicker. Also I don't use cayenne pepper.. I'm not a fan of spicy food, but if you like it by all means add it. Of course I get whatever chicken is on sale, not necessarily tenders. Cans of chicken broth are more than a cup, so I add the rest to the pan of chicken and onions to deglaze the pan.


The best thing about the dish is that it makes a lot and like most pastas it is better the next day. When I move out I plan to make the full amount (but I may invite others over to help some, lol).

I was told what my salary would be at work today. I know it's not proper to talk about money, so lets just say it's a little more than what I thought it would be. It's also a great amount for someone's first job out of college and for a non-profit.

The head of HR also gave me the insurance info and it is over whelming. How do I know which to choose? Also, if Steven's company's insurance (where ever that will be) goes up as much for couples from a single then we may just have separate coverage. Yowza it's a lot!

You shouldn't read insurance info with a headache (well it's difficult to do much with a headache, really). The first place I'll go with my shiny new card? Dr. Wilsons' for some migraine meds!

35 Sundays to go!

In 35 Sundays I'll be on the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas. This is by far my favorite ship, and this is the second to last Caribbean sailing out of Port Canaveral before moving over to Los Angeles to sail the Mexican Rivera. I also want to go on that itenerary.

This will be my second time sailing this itenerary. I like how it has a day at sea at the beginning and at the end. The first one is good to familiarize yourself with this massive ship (luckily it won't take me too long since this will be my 3rd time on the Mariner) and the last day is good to relax before getting back to reality.

I'm excited because Jackie, Erich, Andy, and his friend Jeremy are joining Steven and me. This will be a fun sailing because it's filled with celebrations. First to celebrate my graduation. We're going in December rather than May because it's cheaper, and the more we save on the room, the more we have to spend on drinks of the day! Also we're celebrating Andy's return from Iraq the month before. I really hope he went ahead and renewed his passport before he left.


The Mariner in Grand Cayman. ETA: hopefully you can see the picture now


By the way, happy baptism birthday to Jackie and me!

Pictures

Here's my graduation dress, it's hard to tell with this picture but there's a lacy-type flowery design on it.

By the way, I'm holding my whole 4 tickets I get.

Here's Steven's graduation. No he isn't wearing hair gel, it had been raining for 3 hours. And I had no umbrella.

I can't wait to be in the Alumni club too!

Finally!

Yes I'm devoting a whole post to my finding a graduation dress.

It has been way harder than it should be. At College of Charleston, for the May graduation girls wear a white summer dress and men where a summer tuxedo, which means they have a white jacket instead of black.

Men have been so lucky. Prom, graduation, wedding... they get to just go out and rent a tux.

Us ladies? We have to buy a friggin dress that we (may) only wear once. Well, for the wedding dress it's once (hopefully). I've actually worn both of my prom dresses on several cruises on formal night.

The good thing about this dress is that it's casual so I can wear it to work, or on a Saturday afternoon, or where ever.

Now Steven and I went all up and down King Street, all around Mt. Pleasant Towne Centre, and Citadel Mall to find this dress. We went into department stores, big name stores (Old Navy & such) and local boutiques... nothing, or something not in my size. Gah! I was about to have to GAIN 20 pounds to fit into my dress!! Then finally... there it is.. my dress! Where did I find it? ........ Target! Go figure.

Alright you twisted my arm

Okay so I joined in the blogging. I enjoy reading Mama's and Connie's and will enjoy Jackie's new blog. I wanted to start one and I'm still not sure what it'll be about.. I guess I could talk about myself but that seems so narcissistic. But enough about me, lets talk about me.

I'm exactly four weeks out from graduating college (technically less than that because my graduation ceremony is at 9:30 am). Most people my age freak out over having to go to work and pay bills and all that, but I'm excited. I'm ready to get out there and be a grown up, worry about making rent instead of making an A.

I guess I should take this time to apologize in advance for my terrible grammer, spelling, and writing technique, if you can call it that. My talents lie elsewhere and I've accepted it.