Judging Me

I really need a shirt that says, "I'm a Senior English Major. I own my own photography business. I'm a mother of a 17 month old boy. My husband has been away from home for 18 months. What's your story?" I always wonder what type of reaction something like that would get.

I attend the largest Christian University in the country, probably in the world. I love Liberty, with all of its flaws and horrible decisions. The people, however... Oh the people... Because of its size, very few students bother to get to know, really know, another human being (outside of dorms). Even in some of the smaller classes you can see this happening. I have a class of less than 20 people, and I personally know maybe four of them. Would I like to get to know more? Of course. Will I? More than likely not.

Students who attend a school the size of Liberty tend to place their judgments of others on that first meeting, that first sight. They take into consideration what the other wears, what shoes, do they have makeup on, do they need makeup, do they seem confident, are they lacking in intelligence? English Majors are notoriously horrible about this. That first impression could make or break an entire semester, even an entire year. Even worse is listening to someone in class. Again, this is worse in the English field (although I'd imagine Theology majors are bad about this, as well). If someone raises their hand in an upper level English course, you expect them to have something enlightening to say. If they don't, you begin to question their intelligence. Have I done this before? Absolutely. Have I been judged like this? More than likely.

I'm a pretty friendly and open person, and I am more than willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt, repeatedly if necessary. I have a tendency to try very hard not to judge people (at least, not harshly). The only thing I ask is to not be judged in return. That request is repeatedly ignored. Which brings me back to my original point.

I am 24 years old. I am a wife, first and foremost. My husband is Army, and has been away from home for 18 months. Secondly, I am a mother. I have a 17 month old boy. He is my reason for getting up in the mornings. Next, I am a photographer. I have turned my love of photography into a business so that I can help others capture those special moments in their own lives. Finally, I am a student. I am taking 12 hours of 400 level English courses (the sane English majors typically stick to 6-9 hours), and an additional 3 hours in an upper level Theology class (which I actually adore). This is my final semester.

Don't tell me you understand how I feel when I say I am overwhelmed. You don't. Do not whine at me about how difficult your life is, because you've no idea what that term means. I don't want sympathy. I want a friendly ear to listen. I don't want judgement. I just want you to understand where I come from. And I want to hear your story.

If I can do all of this, so can you. So do many other people on a day to day basis. Most other people in this world have more worries and cares on their shoulders, much much more, than I ever will. I am thankful, every day, for the sacrifices that have been paid so I can live this lifestyle. Yet I will not disguise my troubles. I will not disguise how much it hurts when I am judged.

Until you know my story, how can you pretend to know who I am? And until you know who I am, how can you pretend to judge me?

Some Entertainment for the Day

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II:

In light of your immediate failure to financially manage yourselves and also in recent years
your tendency to elect incompetent Presidents of the USA and therefore not able to govern
yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.
(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states,
commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without
the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated sometime
next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced
with immediate effect:

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1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.'
Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize'
will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to
acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

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2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an
unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We
will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into
account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'

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3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

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4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist,then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

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5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

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6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

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7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

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8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

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9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. New Zealand beer is also acceptable, as New Zealand is pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

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10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

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11. You will cease playing American football. There are only two kinds of proper football; one you call soccer, and rugby (dominated by the New Zealanders). Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

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12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the Australians (World dominators) first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

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13. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

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14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

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15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

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God Save the Queen!

Monday's Unsung Hero

Today's Unsung Hero is a fairly new friend of mine. I've only known her for a few years, but she has had such a  wonderful impact on my life. Her name is Cassandra Clifton.

I met Cassandra through a mutual friend, and then we had a class together (Literature of the Bible). It was in that class that we really connected and became friends. We discovered a mutual love for music and books, NCIS, Castle, and she introduced me to one of my favorite artists, David Garrett, and my newest favorite show, Bones.  She graduated and left to teach English in Russia, and I left to go and be a mom. We traversed around LU and DC together, and came to know the inner workings of the Barnes and Noble Bookstore, as well as what places are the best to hide during Convocation. She has become Balian's crazy aunt, and has spent countless hours on the phone with me, listening to my rants, my vents, my tears, and my laughter. My life is better because she has been a part of it.

I love you, dear! Here's to you!

Pinterest Friday

Welcome to the very first Pinterest Friday! Fridays are the day I've chosen to take something I've pinned to one of my boards on Pinterest and try it out! If you've not joined Pinterest yet, join now at www.pinterest.com! You can follow me at pinterest.com/bfphotographer.

One of the very first things I repinned onto my boards was a recipe for bath paints. I spent forever looking for markers for Balian to play with in the tub, and the paints looked like awesome alternatives. You can find the original idea here.

You will need 5 tablespoons of cornstarch, a half cup of body wash (I used Suave free and clear for kids), and whatever food coloring you want. Mix it all up and you're done! I put it all in a leftover boullion cube jar, so I could have a lid and it would keep for a while.

My initial thoughts of this experiment were, "Wow... This is really hard to mix!" Body wash is already thick. Add the cornstarch, and it's a gloopy mess. I'm pretty sure mine didn't mix as well as it could have (I can still see white at the bottom), but it may just be me. I used green food coloring and only made one batch.

Balian tested it out during his bath. He LOVED this. It was flung everywhere, smeared all over him, smeared all over the tub. He had so much fun with it. I thought this jar would last for a while. Nope. He used every single bit of it. At least I knew he was clean!

Since it only uses a half cup of body wash, there is still plenty left to use for another day. The body wash was less than $2, and the amount of cornstarch and food coloring I used is definitely less than a dollar's worth. It's a price you can't really beat for a fun time in the tub. 

New Challenge

I am trying so desperately hard to lose weight and get fit before my hubby comes home. I want to look so damn good his jaw drops. But, there are always major setbacks. For instance, I don't have time. I don't know what to do, etc. So I'm committing to a new workout, highlighted here in phase one:

Yup. I found it on Pinterest. It's 20 days, low key. If I can't do this, I just pretty much suck. Where it's ten minutes jogging in place, I'm going to do a ten minute run (mainly because I don't do jogging in place well). 

So for the next 20 days, I will be attempting this. Who knows? I might do phase 2 after this. 

Do you have any weight loss plans/advice? What are you doing to look good?

Best Day Ever

Today started out like any other typical Friday for me. Got up, coffee, talked to John, then went to Lit Crit. The one main difference in today versus any other day is the fact that I don't have African American Lit today (we have a take home Midterm instead), so when I came home from my morning class, I was home to stay. Today has been the first day in a very long time I was able to stay home and just chill. Balian and I went to the mall (where I bought a cute pair of moccasins!), I've worked on two separate DIY projects from Pinterest (both will be blogged about on my Pinterest Fridays blog in the coming weeks), was actually able to eat lunch, and even played Oblivion while Balian used me as a springboard.

On any normal day, I'd be in class. By the time I'd get home, Balian would be down for a nap, and we wouldn't really have time for anything after he woke up because I'd be working on dinner. Today is different. It reminds me of why I want to be a stay at home mom. I love having this freedom to just do and not have to worry.

Hence, the best day ever. 

New Recipe Wednesday

I found the Cheesy Shells and Greens recipe in the November issue of Woman's Day magazine. I'm really not sure what to make of it, in all honesty. I had to substitute apple pie spice for nutmeg, because it was the only thing I had that came closest to pure nutmeg. It made the dish sweeter than it would have been, but it's not a bad taste. Also, this recipe calls for using the broiler. I am not a broiler user. Everything I cook under the broiler burns. Including the bread crumb topping on this meal (it was only in the oven for like a minute!!!).

What little bit that wasn't burnt I could taste, tasted pretty decent. Definitely not one of my favorite meals, but decent none-the-less. I'm going to have to cook it again one day, using the regular old oven instead of the broiler.

This isn't a very healthy recipe, but good for something quick and as a good alternative to regular mac and cheese. Overall for my taste (minus the burnt topping): about 3 stars. Not the worst I've ever had, but definitely not the best.

Here's the recipe, if you would like to try it out:

Ingredients:
12 oz medium pasta shells
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk (I used skim)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/8 tsp freshly grated or ground nutmeg
Pinch cayenne (optional)
6 oz extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (I used regular sharp)
Salt, Pepper
1 bunch spinach, thick steams discarded, leaves roughly chopped


1.) Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
2.) Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes; whisk in the milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 5 minutes.
3.) Whisk in the mustard, nutmeg, cayenne (if using), 1 cup Cheddar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. Add the pasta and spinach and toss to combine.
4.) Heat broiler. Transfer the mixture to a 1 1/2 quart broiler-proof baking dish or four 12 oz ramekins. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar and broil until golden brown, 3-4 minutes.


For the topping (optional)
 Pulse 4 slices of bread in a food processor to form coarse crumbs (I used about a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs). Stir in 1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley and 2 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle over the pasta before broiling.

Nutrition Info per Serving:
 - 593 Calories
 - 22 grams fat (14 grams saturated fat)
 - 61 mg cholesterol
 - 677 mg sodium
 - 25 gram protein
 - 73 grams carbs
 - 4 grams fiber

New Stuff and a Cool New Award!

I've already introduce Monday's Unsung Hero, a way for me to praise those little known hero's in our lives, but I'm now introducing two new weekday themes. On Wednesdays, I will be cooking a brand new recipe that I've found online or in a magazine and reviewing it here. Friday's will be henceforth Pinterest Friday's. Pinterest is my newest obsession. It's a giant idea pin board. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here. If you're already on Pinterest, follow me here. So Friday's blogs will be my review and share of different pins that have been posted. I'll be trying out a lot of different things and being very crafty, so it's something you definitely don't want to miss!

Onto the award!

My bestfriend/sister at In Her Own Words pinged me for this super sweet Creative Blogger award.

So here are the simple rules, so that you can pass on the award to who you think is is a Kreativ Blogger. Share 7 random facts about yourself, and then pass this on to seven different Blogger who you think deserves it. Make sure to link their blogs to yours so that others can see their Blogs, too!

Here are my 7 facts:

1.) I sleep with a teddy bear that my hubby gave me for Christmas.

2.) I love running. I just don't have the motivation to do it.

3.) I make and sell wreaths. I have just about a thousand new ideas for them, just not enough money and time to see them to completion.

4.) My favorite Disney movie is Lion King. I have watched it twice since buying it last week.

5.) My favorite tv shows are Castle and Bones.

6.) I love reading. I'm constantly trying new and different genres to broaden my literature horizon.

7.) I love dance.

Here are the 7 blogger friends who most deserve this award!

1.) Cassandra Clifton at Lions, Tigers, and Dandelions. She's such a wonderful person, and her thoughts and emotions come through so well through her writing. Definitely an amazing blog to read.

2.) Lisa Rosenberg at Smacksy provides me with a daily dose of laughter with the fun conversations she has with her son Bob, the Jedi.

3.) Anna Plyler always has something inspiring and beautiful going on at her blog Grace.

4.) If you're looking for a lot of randomness, check out Jonathan Arnold's blog The Bi-Polar Ramblings of Me. I'm being serious when I say that you will never know what he'll post next, which is why I love it so much.

5.) Love love love, love love love Leesha at Just Leesha. So many adorable pictures of her girls and book reviews. Who could ever ask for more in a blog??

6.) Author of Single Dad Laughing has so many different insights, fun contests, and (of course) adorable pictures. 

7.) The Oopsey Daisy Blog is a new blog I just started following. She has lots of different ideas for homeschooling, fun crafts, giveaways. Just a lot of awesomness.

I wish I could put all of my fave blogs on here, but unfortunately I can't. Maybe one day. :)

Monday's Unsung Hero

Today's hero is (drumroll please)... Anna Marie Leviner!

Anna and I met my first semester at Emmanuel. We became friends very quickly, despite our very different personalities, and we decided to room together for our next year in the dorm.

Anna is the only person, outside of my family, who has lived with me for longer than a semester. How she survived and still love me today is a mystery that I may never understand. I am not the easiest person to live with or love. I am rambunctious, loud, impulsive, and I have a very bad temper. Anna was introverted, content with peace and quiet, and incredibly patient.

I was in a really bad place at the end of that year. I know Anna was beyond frustrated with me, but she loved me anyways. The term "best friend" could never describe her, because it goes so much deeper than that. I believe we truly became sisters that year. Since then, we've laughed and cried and shared hopes and dreams. When it came to who would be Balian's godparents, Anna and her husband were the only logical choice. I couldn't have asked for a better friend or ally in life.

So here's to Anna, this week's Unsung Hero. For keeping me grounded and always being there whenever I've needed it most.

Monday's Unsung Heroes

Every Monday for the next few weeks, I'm going to dedicate a blog to an unsung hero, someone (other than my husband) who has made a significant impact on my life.

This weeks unsung hero is Michelle Mullins. I cna not tell you the depth of the love and admiration I have for this woman.

I met Michelle at Emmanuel back in 2006. I've learned just a small amount of her life story since then. She has been through loss that no woman should ever have to bear, more times than any other woman could ever handle. She has lived through tumors and various other illnesses that, instead of taking the life out of her, only put the life back into her. She is the mother of a wonderful 18 year old young lady, who is more like her mother than either will ever admit. ;)

Michelle has been my mentor and my counselor for years. She has never been one to step around issues. If it's the truth, it's going to hurt, but you need to hear it regardless. It's one of the things I love about her. I've had these truths put to me numerous times, and I've always survived and have always come out with a higher respect for the one who told it to me. 

Michelle's greatest goal is to help others. It's almost what she lives for, and she's awesome at it.

I love this woman, so incredibly much. My admiration for her has no bounds, and she is constantly surprising me with her constant stream of encouragement and strength.

Michelle Mullins. This one's for you.