Busy Busy

I have been really busy lately with the amount of school work I have this term. After I switched from Criminology to Art History, I switched again to Minorities (sociology). It is soooo much more my style, the problem is I had a lot of catching up to do.
Anyway, I went to lunch after school today at Laughing Planet.

Burrito, yum.

Love the warm, chewy tortilla

It was stuffed with huge pinto beans, rice, and gooey cheese. It was amazing!!!

Then home to read textbooks :(  

But I did have something interesting for dinner.

Annie's all stars pasta in tomato sauce blows spaghetti-o's away.

Plus some POCKY! I forgot how much I love these little guys. Oops forgot a picture.

Almost The End of a Long Week

This has been the longest week of my life. On the one hand I am glad it is Thursday because it is almost Friday, however, on the other it is not that great because I still have to get through tomorrow. I took a long nap this afternoon though so I am ready.

After school we went to a brew pub called Hopworks and I had a slice of pizza.

Their cheese pizza is the best because it has so much flavor within each part. They use several cheeses, garlic oil, very flavorful sauce, and a nice wheaty crust. They list where all of their ingredients are from to show how healthful they are so it is a plus.

After, since we were already across town, we decided to go to our favorite bakery, Delphina's, today.

I never ever get tired of their moist and buttery cream scones. 

Howie was cute again by the sink tonight :)

Midweek Fun...

Well, I started my art history class today and it was not too bad, it was slightly interesting. The problem is that the teacher moves so dang fast with so much information thrown at you at once. Oh well, all I can do is try. However, my philosophy class is pretty cool.

This afternoon I was feeling kind of "blah" again and I saw some overripe bananas on the counter. So of course I whipped up a banana bread. It was not pretty enough to take a picture.
For dinner, I was not in the mood for burgers with the rest of my family so I had a Chicken Rice-a-Roni and a chicken breast cut into pieces. Yum.

Afterwards, my mom showed up with some Lofthouse cookies as they were on sale from easter. I have not had these in years. They were doughy, floury, and too sweet, just like I remembered and still love.

I had to have one of each color of course :)

Oh and recently, the kitty at my sister's house has found his new favorite spot...

Howie is so funny. He licks absolutely everything. 

Terrible Morning

So Kerby and I get to the parking garage at school and find it full which means we have to be on the hunt for street parking. We found a spot but it was only an hour long which meant that it would only go until 10:50 even though we had class until 12:15. We decided that since I had a break in my classes from 10:50 to 11, I would move the car.
But, it did not go as planned... I was circling for parking until 11:40...
I was 45 minutes late to the first day of class! How does that reflect on me? I hate being late.

After class, I was not in a good mood so my sister said, let's stop for pizza. I was like 'Yeah!'.

It was a great idea, until I heated the slices up in the oven and slightly burned them (typically).

Last, to end the day I decided it was a cookie baking kind of day so I went for some oatmeal cookies. The scent definitely made me forget. Doesn't the smell of fresh baked cookies make everyone happy? :)

Ehh.. School...

After not falling asleep until two in the morning and rolling around half the night, waking up at 8 was not easy. Plus I was not looking forward to sitting in classes for 3 and a half hours either, so that made it even more difficult.
When I got to philosophy I was too tired to think, which I though was funny because philosophy is thinking about thinking... But so far it looks like it is going to be my most enjoyable class, which is awesome. (Plus it is always funny when a professor walks in on the first day, asks to be sure that he is in the right class by saying some really hard class and seeing people who have a mini freak out and fall for it.)

Spanish was just spanish. Same teacher. Some familiar faces. Lots of group work and awkwardness.

In between classes I did have a laugh. I was sitting on a bench, eating a granola bar, and trying to read but there was this girl on the bench over there.

She was making so many weird noises and it was odd and quite distracting.

Anyways, last I had criminal justice. As soon as the professor walked in, I knew I would hate it... and I soon found out that I did. So this afternoon, I dropped it like a hot potato and added art history. It will cover prehistoric to medieval times, so I think it should be cool.

After school I was riding downtown with my sister when we saw this.

It was a rag doll hung out of a window to look like a real person. We were like 'what the heck...'. But then we realized it was april fools day.

First Kick of Spring Before Spring Term

Yesterday was so nice, like 75 degrees, that I decided to take a day off of the computer and go outside.
So I threw together a lunch (and a couple bags of snacks), water, and my kindle and headed for the sun.

I had toasted Dave's bread with the sweet and tangle Einstein's honey almond smear.

By the evening, I was tired out from all of the sun. I wanted something filling for dinner that wouldn't take long. I found some rotini, which is my absolute favorite noodle ever!

I didn't want sauce so I found this cheese blend from Trader Joe's.

Now today was Easter but it isn't really celebrated in my family. I ended up sunburned after yesterday so I knew it needed to be an inside day, but I needed something to do to get my mind of off school tomorrow (I am so nervous).

So I decided to do a little reorganizing.

In the beginning I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into...

After a couple of hours, I had to take a break so I sat outside in the shade with an iced tea before getting back to work.

By the end of the day I felt I did a pretty good job, even though I feel that I am never finished.

I kind of had to quit because it turned out that my family was planning on having a nice dinner tonight for fun. So I had to help peel the potatoes.

We had flame roasted ham, mashed potatoes with cheese, crescent rolls, and my favorite, mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar. Yummy.

After a long day, I realized I had to get my stuff ready for tomorrow and get to bed early. No more getting up at 10, I have class at 9 this term :(

Spring Break Day 5

So sad that spring break is coming to an end. I am too anxious for next term and do not want to think about it.
So after oatmeal for breakfast I knew I wanted something different for lunch today.
My mom, sister, and grandma were going out so I tagged along. We went to one of our favorite hole in the wall Chinese food places downtown, but I was not in the mood for Chinese.

Mom pointed out the sandwiches so I went for a cream cheese and turkey sandwich on toasted sourdough. It was sooo yummy!

My sister got what we usually get, so I decided to snag a pic.

It is a teriyaki chicken bento with rice and broccoli. It is so sweet and a wonderful combo.

Afterward, we went to Delphina's bakery, yet again. I got the cream scone again :)

Next we decided that since we are halfway to Walmart, we might as well go there since it is far away and it is a special trip in our family. But on the way, we spotted a little Russian store that we had never seen, and taking after my mother, I begged to pull over.

It was like nothing I had seen before as there were all different cakes, pastries, warm meat dishes, and groceries. I didn't want to get a lot because I knew I would just eat it, so I picked a few.

First, I knew I needed some tea biscuits.

I decided to go with a condensed milk flavor because I thought it sounded unique. I ate a few this afternoon with tea and they were delightful. They were similar to a very airy version of a tangy shortbread.

Next, I saw these little guys that reminded me of pocky.

I have not tried them yet, but once I bought them, I found that the box said vanilla flavored sticks.

Finally, at the end of the day, my sister and I thought it would be fun to make something from scratch for dinner. So we made some chicken soup. We boiled and shredded chicken, and added it to the broth (we created out of chicken broth, chicken stock, water, and milk), celery, onions, carrots, and egg noodles I got at the Russian store. It smelled delightful

However, I do not care for chicken soup, so I went for a pack of microwave mac and cheese from Trader Joe's.

.

Spring Break Day 4

On this wonderful Thursday, I had to grab a baggie of cereal and run out the door to go with my family to the coast for the day.
Lunch was super duper good at Dooger's Restaurant.

I ordered a grilled ham and cheddar on a bun. It was loaded.

However, I asked for sweet potato fries and the waiter messed up so I had to wait a bit, but it was well worth it. I ate the whole plate!

It is not a trip to the coast without a stop at the candy store.

While there I saw this popcorn that was so dang cute! 

Then my sister pointed out these and we couldn't bring ourselves to but it and try it. Ew.

For some reason I was feeling like some saltwater taffy so I decided to start my own bag.

I chose some vanilla, peppermint, and cinnamon. They do not really go together but they are my favorites.

By this time of day, I was craving my afternoon hot tea and it was wonderfully comforting in the breezy beach air, until it began to rain.

Finally, we ended the day of walking through town with an ice cream cone.

Had to go for some sweet and salty chocolate chip cookie dough. Yes!

Spring Break Day 3

This whole waking up at 11 everyday is throwing me off. However, I was exited to open the fridge here at my sisters and see the stuff from Einstein's Bagels.

I had a 9 grain bagel which was very seedy. It would have been pretty boring with regular cream cheese, but I remembered my mom picked a different kind this time.

I have only ever had regular cream cheese because I don't like fruit, however, I just discovered my new favorite spread. The honey almond smear they carry is amazing!!! It is delightfully lightly sweetened as opposed to the tartness of regular cream cheese (ew) and there were a couple of lumps from almonds.

Plus, it finally felt like spring break today. It actually got to be over 60 degrees so I tried to suntan a little after lunch. Sadly, I didn't know that the medication I started a couple of months ago makes my skin sensitive to sun. I got a burn in less than an hour and my arms and face has been itchy sense.
But, my dog was sure happy that we spent time out there.

For dinner I was craving pizza, so I just went with a Red Baron Deep Dish Single.

Dreyer's Slow Churned Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream Review

Yet another single serving cup of Dreyer's Ice Cream!!!

This one is Cookies 'n Cream flavor for 190 calories.

Cookies and cream ice cream used to be my favorite, especially when there was big chunks of cookie (I am more into cookie dough now). I have had all different brands but never Dreyer's before.

When I opened the cup I was nervous because it looked similar to Skinny Cow's (made by the same company) cookies and cream ice cream which was bland and just tasted like ice cream with a gritty texture.
Well, my first bite was kind of gritty, but as I kept eating, there was actually several larger pieces of cookies and cream. Only about a quarter of my spoonfuls had a real bite of cookie in it.

Pros: When I spooned a nice crunchy bite.
Cons: The bites without large cookie was pretty gritty.

Taste: 8/10
Texture: 6/10
Amount for calories: 9/10 Dreyer's is always pretty good about having a "light" load.
Overall: 7/10

I did not love this flavor of Dreyer's so I think I will stick to their Mint Chocolate Chip and Rocky Road. For cookies and cream in the future, it would be worth it to drive to Baskin Robbins for a scoop.

Spring Break Day 2

This morning I had to chuckle when I looked in the cupboard for mug for tea and I saw this...
My kitty, Marty, has yet again scouted out a chocolatey snack.

The first end of this Three Musketeers bar was all crinkled like he really was having a hard time, but it looked like he gave up and went for the other end.

Bingo! He got a hole in it and nibbled away. (You may not be able to tell but there is a pretty big dent taken out of here.)

After, I wanted something a little different this morning after having too much of my homemade granola in the past few days, so my mom took me to Starbucks. (Again, always with my mommy...)

Man I love their breakfast. I chose the Reduced Fat Turkey Bacon Sandwich as always (with white cheddar cheese, egg whites, and a wheat english muffin).

The only problem is that these do not keep me full for very long, not much does.
So I was happy to remember that we got a half dozen bagels at Einstein's yesterday.
My favorites are the asiago (which I ended up leaving at my sister's house), 9-grain (also at sister's), and chocolate chip (which my dad ate).

So my only option was the honey whole wheat. It was not very good, kind of had a weird tang. But, I still ate it because I love a freshly toasted bagel with a mug of hot Starbucks tea.

After a Trader Joe's run this afternoon, I decided to try something new for dinner.

It was a fully cooked Trader Joe's chicken breast, Uncle Ben's original ready rice, and La Choy sweet and sour sauce.

Once I heated it all up, it was to die for! Simple, tasty, and much healthier than deep fried Chinese food  from a restaurant.