I just had my mind blown tonight. I wanted to blog about it, but I got up at 5:30am, and I'm extraordinarily tired... thus, blogging in the morning.

Yay.

ok. bye.

It's been a while since my last post... things got kinda busy with the beginning of the holidays and everything.

I don't know what's up with my body-- the joints on my right side are giving me the hardest time. My knee and elbow on my right are just KILLING ME! If I stay warm, it doesn't seem to be that big of an issue, but if I'm cold, my joints get all... weird.

I'm only 23. What the heck is going on???

On the menu in the near future are the amazing and flavorful meatballs that I'm going to feature in my next post. I'm crazy about them. I've probably made them 5 times in the past few months since I discovered them. They're from My Kitchen Cafe, again... a lot of what I cook is from that site, because Melanie has some AMAZING recipes.

I haven't been cooking lately, because of Thanksgiving. I had no need to cook. I think, though, that I am going to make a green bean casserole over the next couple days, because it's one of my favorite holiday meals that I missed out on since there were just WAY too many things on our table this Thanksgiving.

I'll probably also make another pumpkin (or some kind) of pie, because I didn't really have any pie either.

When it came down to it, I wasn't feeling so hot on Thanksgiving...

and I was sick the next two days after.

I saw NEW MOON yesterday. My mom, my brother and his girlfriend all went. I enjoyed it. I thought it was a bit on the long side, but certainly a good movie. I was SO surprised about Dakota Fanning's role in the movie. I didn't expect Jane to be so young-- just small. The impression in the books was that she was just little-- not necessarily young in age.

When Jacob took his shirt off, everyone in the theater gasped. It was a pretty captivating moment.

I guess that's all the events of the past few days... It's been a whole week, I guess.

I'll post that recipe in the next little while.

bye for now!

Reading The Bible


How come my posts no longer have headings? I'm troubled by this. Oh well, I'll make my OWN headings...

This morning, for some reason, I was motivated to start reading my Bible, so... I did. I read Genesis 1-11, and I felt pretty good about it. BECAUSE I didn't just want to read and then watch it all disappear somewhere in my brain, I found a short question and answer sheet online that I copied and pasted into MSWord, and filled out.

I don't feel like it's lifechanging, but I feel like I'm getting somewhere. I decided to just read it chronologically over a year's time (but I'm aiming for 4-6 months). I figure I have a little more time on my hands than the average person right now, with not working and everything, so I'm gonna try to just get it done, so that I can then go back and re-read. I'd like to get to the point where I kindof know what I'm looking for in the Bible and can help others read it. I know I'm a long way off, but I've got to start somewhere, and it's nice to have goals.

So, this is success in my book. I set out to do something, and I did it. I'm proud.

Other news in the life of Little Miss Modern:

In case you're wondering where this sudden Bible thing came from-- I went to church on Wednesday night. It was more like a concert, because there were rappers visiting from far away, so we were listening to them and dancing, but it was fun.

Thanksgiving is next week. I'm excited. I am going to go over and help my mom prep everything on Wednesday morning so there isn't a lot to be done on Thursday at all.

New Moon came out-- well, it's out right now. The theater happens to be closed, because it's 5am, but the midnight premier was just a few hours ago. Despite the friendships I have, I wasn't invited to go with anyone, so I didn't make it to the midnight premier. I'm supposed to go with a friend later today, if it's not raining.

I'm mid book 4 in the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot. They're cute, but short, little books. I'm enjoying the series. It seems, though, that a character I was very fond of just got written out. We'll see, though, I guess.

I'm still eating the left overs of the Minestrone soup I posted the other day. The noodles seem to have soaked up all the soup-ness, so it's less like soup and more like pasta with hamburger, beans, carrots and onions. Oh well. It doesn't taste bad, it's just not very soupy.

There's no church next week. I'm kinda bummed, but I'll just go the week after.

So far so good. Things are getting better by the day.

So, I made this for dinner tonight. I was impressed by how much flavor there was in it, even though it was such a simple recipe.

It came together very quickly, and since it's a crock pot recipe, I just poured everything in, and left it there until it was time to eat.

It makes a LOT. I think I could eat it for the next week, and still have some left-- that is, if my room mate doesn't get into it.

I also made some garlic bread that I will post in the next couple days. It's a really cool recipe because I can make it ahead and freeze it.





Crockpot Minestrone Recipe
Submitted by: Shelly, IL

This is a simple minestrone recipe that is very flavorful. Very simple with good veggies and lean ground meat.

Crockpot Minestrone Recipe Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 8-oz. cans kidney beans, drained
2 14 oz cans beef broth
2 14 oz organic diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups cooked shell macaroni
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Crockpot Minestrone Recipe Directions

Saute the ground beef in some vegetable oil and drain very well. Next combine all the ingredients into the Crockpot and stir well. Cook on high for 5 hours but before finished, add in macaroni during last 30 minutes or hour. Use parmesan cheese to top as needed.

Awake

My body still insists on sleeping strange hours, so last night I went to bed at 9pm and woke up at 1am. I'm still awake.

I've been busy finishing pogo badges, and reading MLIA (which I LOVE) and thinking about the left over pancake batter that's in the refrigerator, and how badly I want orange juice.

The grocery store is just down the street. I might go get it.

Anyway, I'm awake, and I guess I will be for most of the rest of the day. Maybe this is my day to readjust my sleep schedule. If that magically happened, I wouldn't complain.

It's a little hot in here. Maybe I should turn off the heater.

I don't remember if I ever ran the dishwasher after I loaded it last time. I need to take care of the dishes and clean the rest of the kitchen, as well as getting the minestrone soup (originally spelled supe... that's where my brain's at right now) ingredients ready to go into the crock pot around noon or so.

We're having (or at least I'm preparing) minestrone soup and garlic bread for tonight and however long it lasts beyond that.

I'm hoping SO MUCH for Chinese food on Wednesday. We haven't done Chinese in probably about a month and I've been CRAVING it so bad.

I also thought for a while about making a pumpkin pie, but since Thanksgiving is next week, I guess I can wait. I don't have to be all moody about the pie this year, though because I know how to make my own-- so even if there's like NONE left, I can still make one between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So, all is right with the world... well, mostly, I guess. Nothing's going TERRIBLE, just a little weird/off-putting stuff here and there.

Every day's a new one. If nothing else, at least that's true.

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

blog time!

I'm a little sad that I can't come up with alittle more creative of a title for my blog... after all I do have some kind of imagination stuck up there in that brain of mine.

Anyway, it's Sunday. Over all, I've had a great day so far. I went to bed at 6am, and the woke up at 11. I quickly fell asleep after catching up on my google reader, and woke up again at right about 5pm.

I played on www.pogo.com for a while, and now I'm listening to the rain on my computer at www.rainymood.com (it's the rain without the wet) and I'm reading a book online.

Today is a great day.

The only thing I can think of to make this better would be chocolate cake... however, I don't have any, so I guess I'll settle for the next best thing, which would be sugar cookies.

Food Network Challenge is on right now. I'm not watching it yet, but I will be soon... and after that, Next Iron Chef is on, but none of my favorites are left, so I think I'm going to watch one of my guilty pleasure shows: Tough Love on VH1.

So far so good for a not so rainy Sunday.

Pogo...

I just wanted to share one of my favorite things about the internet... www.pogo.com

It's a game site with SO MANY games. They have weekly challenges where you have to complete certain tasks in certain games. You can always (ofcourse) play whatever game you'd like.

They have both regular Pogo and Club Pogo. The difference is that Club Pogo has access to MORE games. I'm a Club Pogo member. It's pretty much the cheapest paid game site on the internet, since it's only $5.99 a month. Not bad at all.

Anyway, here's a picture of my Pogo mini. She's all dolled up for Thanksgiving.


I usually edit her to be ready for whatever season or holiday is approaching.

I'm going to go to bed now. I need to start getting in bed before 4pm.

Goodnite world!

Blogging...

I finished my book last night. I'm in the process of reading the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot. The first book was a little on the slow side... last night I finished the second book. It was a LOT better.

All of the plot came together in the last couple pages... it was like a neat little bow. The main character didn't die yet.

I'm going to try to start book 3 later today.

I haven't been reading a lot lately. There's been a little more going on/going wrong than usual, so it hasn't been crossing my mind to take the time to pick up a book... but now that it's getting cold, and the rain is gonna start, I can't help but want to curl up in bed with a book and do nothing all day.

I drank my first cup of hot chocolate for the winter of 2009 the other day. It was as amazing as I had hoped it would be. I love the little marshmallows. I put whipped cream on top. It was delicious.

What else... let's see.

I haven't been cooking, so I don't have any new recipes to share. I also haven't spent more than $10 at the grocery store since October 1st. I'm quite proud of that. A month and a half without grocery shopping is an amazing feat... obviously I don't have a family.

My brother has been playing the new Call of Duty on his 360 since it came out. I'm not sure he's been to class, or even left the couch for anything more than cereal, since he got the game. He even slept out there the other night. It's annoying because I really like having the place to myself. I can't do that, if he's here... obviously.

Anyway-- back to the real world.

Bye for now!

Today

Today is a brand new day.

I didn't feel like yesterday was much of a new day at all.

I don't yet know what makes that difference.

I feel...

I feel rather up to date in the world of technology... though I'm sure that means there's only more newer stuff right around the corner...

For now, though, I've got a good handle on things, I think...

I've got my Windows 7 Machine: "Hi. I'm Little Miss Modern and I'm a PC!". I love it. It's a LOT nicer than any other machine that I've ever had. Granted it's only been a couple weeks, but so far, so good.

The Windows 7 Movie Maker has allowed me to create and upload my first 2 movies to YOUtube (which you can do directly from the movie maker itself). Though I don't think I'll be using youtube for my uploads in the future because they're giving me issues with uploading audio.

I just downloaded Kindle for PC last night, and I've loaded it with a large amount of books (see previous blog) . I even managed to get the book that I'm currently reading for free. That was an accident, but I'm not complaining. Now it's a mouse click away and doesn't add any weight to my purse! :)

I have a BLOG that I'm successfully maintaining (or trying to) with what is, in my mind at least, a cute, catchy title...

I'm up to date on myspace (with 2 accounts that I maintain, one for personal and another for a business) and on twitter... with tweets that appear in the public timeline again...

I just recently learned how to use USTREAM. I'm excited to watch my church's Wednesday night service on there, since I'm not actually attending right now.

The icing on the cake is my GOOGLE READER. I haven't even had it for 24 hours yet, and I already think it's amazing. I love any online tool that puts everything all in one place. It's brilliant. Possibly more brilliant than me!

I feel really involved. More involved than I have in a while... now I need to somehow streamline all my accounts so I've got only one or two user names to log into everything. I think that will make life MUCH easier.

Happy happy technology! I love it. I feel like such a nerd. It's GREAT!

This is one of my most favorite landmarks in the whole world. It's truly an exceptional piece of architecture. No matter how long I live (or how few times I've traveled over it) this bridge will be my favorite. Of course, it helps that it's one of the few paths into the most amazing city I've ever known: San Francisco.

I could talk for days about the beauty and diversity that is San Francisco, CA. I would move there, if costs weren't so high. There's something so vibrant about the city. There's so much to see and do.

One day I am going to go to the city with the specific intent of taking pictures of all the amazing things that it has to offer. That would be one LONG blog post.

I can't credit the picture, because I don't remember where I got it, but it's not mine. It's certainly beautiful, though.

Kindle for Windows 7

NO MORE WAITING!! IT'S HERE!!!


I just downloaded my Kindle for my PC. I'm really excited about it. There are THOUSANDS of free books, and I've totally taken advantage of that. I think I could read two books a week for the rest of my life and be busy for a VERY long time.

All the classics are free too; like Pride and Prejudice, and The Iliad (and SO MUCH MORE).


This was one of my major reasons for wanting Windows 7. I'm so excited that it's finally here.

Pages turn with my arrow keys, it keeps track of the last page I was on in each book no matter HOW MANY books I attempt to read at once, you can make notes on the pages... and those are just the features I've discovered so far.

Features I'm hoping for:

Something to keep track of what books I'm actively reading
Something to highlight passages/words I need to remember
Something to sort books by the order that I want to read them in

So far so good, though. I'm totally excited about this, and I can't wait to really put it into action. I see it as something I'll be able to use every single day!!

EDITED TO ADD: I found that the last book you read sits in the top left hand corner of the screen, and they organize themselves that way-- so no need to hope for that... it's already there. I read, also, that the other two features that I'm wishing for, are on their way as soon as it comes out of BETA.

SO EXCITED!!! What a great product!

Oh, and in case you didn't know, it's ALSO available for Windows XP and Vista! Check it out!

Sweet and Sour Chicken from My Kitchen Cafe

So, I've decided that my blog needs the addition of recipes. I LOVE to cook, and I'm finding more and more recipes online that are appealing to me.

My #1 source for AMAZING recipes is My Kitchen Cafe . It's run by a lady named Melanie, and she really knows her stuff.

I've made a few of the recipes from he site, and I've never been disappointed.

With that in mind, I'm making it a point to post some of those recipes on my blog as well. Even if no one ever reads this, at the very least it will be my very own no-fail recipe blog that I can go to when I'm trying to figure out what's for dinner (or dessert!)

Right now, my house smells like a Chinese restaurant because I'm cooking Sweet and Sour Chicken. The sauce (that I tasted, ofcourse) is amazing and tastes JUST like sweet and sour sauce tastes like on any good Sweet and Sour Chicken I've ever had at an asian restaurant.

Without any further random typing, here's the recipe with Melanie's pictures.




Sweet and Sour Chicken
Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

Wednesday!!!

Well, today is Wednesday, which means a lot of things...

It's my favorite day of the week!

I go to my parents in the morning and take care of laundry-- along with eating their food for breakfast, if I don't happen to stop at Starbucks, and sometimes going out to lunch with my mom.

Also, I get to go to the computer game center where my best friend/guy i'm kinda seeing works, and hang out there for several hours while we play Pirates Online, and POGO.

Speaking of POGO, that's another cool thing about Wednesdays. The new badges come out on www.pogo.com for the week. It's just something cool I've been doing for about a year. I got my mom hooked, and my best friend/guy i'm kinda seeing is hooked too.

What else-- oh, Wednesdays are USUALLY when my best friend/guy i'm kinda seeing comes over to the apartment and hangs out after we get done at the computer center. It's nice to have someone to cuddle with...

Additionally, Nip/Tuck has relocated to Wednesday nights on FX. I don't care WHAT you say, it's an AMAZING show. I watched the first few seasons on DVD, and the last 2 I've watched as they aired. What a magnificent piece of art. BRILLIANT!

So, anyway, today, my mom and I are going to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant (and I have to go with her to run some of her errands) and then on with my day as planned.

Yay!

I need to get Greek from this week burned to DVD so that my best friend/guy i'm kinda seeing can watch it. It was super cute this week. Too bad it was the season finale. I can't wait til it comes back in January. ABC Family has a really weird schedule trying to fit all their shows in. It's like everything gets to go half a "normal" season, and then they quit and switch to something else. I'm cool with forgetting about "Secret Life of the American Teenager" and "Lincoln Heights" all together, and airing TONS of episodes of "Greek" and "Make It Or Break It" over and over and over!

Ok, well that's my rant for today! I'll be back!

I'm not one to do much by the social norm, I guess... but I do have strong opinions, and beliefs. I admit upfront, I'm not the most responsible person in the world, and I've made a TON of mistakes in my life. That said, there are some things even I don't understand.

Recently, multiple times, the issue of unwed parents has come up in my life. I'm the product of a situation where marriage wasn't even a thought in the back of anyone's mind, even though I was lucky enough to be brought into a family with parents who were married many years before I was born, and are still married.

Before I begin, I guess I should define "unwed" in MY terms, since they don't match that of most people. To me, it means "any couple who lack a life long commitment to each other, and who have not proven they have a long term sustainable relationship of several years, regardless of desire or ability to go through the actual ceremony of getting married." Once you've gotten married, whether you've known each other for 1 day or 100 years, you are of course then "wed"

I am of the belief that a man and a woman should be married (or something constituting marriage) before a child is brought into the picture. There are a million reasons for this. I'm sure I don't need to list them to have you understand what they are, or that they do, in fact, exist.

Sure, it's more common for children to be born to unwed parents than it is for them to be born to married ones, but that doesn't make it right.

I believe there are two sides to this issue. The side of the pregnant woman, and the side of the man who got her pregnant.

For the woman who has to carry this child for 9 months unless she decides to abort the pregnancy, there's a lot going on. It's hard to hide a baby for much more than 4 months. It's inevitable that people are going to find out about the pregnancy. You're basically a living breathing statistic, and an example of what everyone advises their children NOT to do. Women develop an attachment to their child, and can hopefully have a happy healthy pregnancy, even though it's not the MOST ideal of situations. Hopefully they've picked a man who will stick by their side, and share the responsibilities of the situation with them...

For the man, he should be supportive, and take care of the situation that's been created, but he should also be ashamed that he wasn't smart enough to wear a condom and assure his partner was taking birth control correctly. He should not be overjoyed. It's not something to make public or to be proud of.

What are the rest of us supposed to say? "Congratulations for bringing a child into this world who won't have a stable family, and a comfortable life because you couldn't wear a condom"? You don't congratulate someone for screwing up... (well, I know someone who does, but it's really patronizing, and obnoxious and it comes with a really bad feeling... but that's another blog).

If, as a man, you're THRILLED about the idea of your girlfriend being pregnant (instead of petrified and ashamed as you probably should be) then maybe it's time to put a ring on her finger and send her on her way to find a white dress with her mom and sister.

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in a baby carriage. It's written that way in the rhyme for a reason.

I have the hardest time understanding why it can't happen that way.

No, you don't need to be married to have sex... should you be? Yes... because you never know when the sperm is gonna find that egg and change your life.

I have done what I can to not have a baby before I'm married, and still enjoy my relationship with the man I've got in my life right now. So far, I've been tremendously successful. I don't understand why it's so hard for everyone else.

I think I've vented enough.

Goodnite.