Dill Pickles @ Midnight

I find that I come up with most of my thoughts- ideas- stories- rants- raves in the wee hours of the night or when I nowhere near my computer. Most of the time, nothing makes sense...at least when the thoughts are out of my head. I had this idea of writing a blog about how I turned 25 this year but wasn't ready for the big day. How I don't feel established enough to be 25 years old. How I would like to stay 24 for one more year. How 25 will be my year, big things are going to happen (I hope). Then I got more ideas about coming up with resolutions for all my friends. Or even pouring out my heart and soul about life, love and the pursuit of happiness. But seriously, life, love and the pursuit of happiness is practically nonexistent when your days are spent locked up in the library reading journal manuscripts or going to bed on weekends at 10pm in order to recover from another hectic week.

Even now, as I sit here with no distractions, all those thoughts I had minutes ago are gone. Writing has never one of my strong suits...hence an English major bff with unlimited ideas for me :-)

-One more semester plus an extra month or two then it's all over. Back into the real world. Can't wait. With no commitments to any one place, I have a world of opportunities available to me. Although I know where I would like to be. Do you?
-I love my friends, don't get me wrong, but I love coming home and spending my evenings doing nothing. Yep, sitting on the couch watching Man vs. Food (wait, is that really different than any other Wednesday night?) or reading a book while wrapped in my zebra printed Snuggie (it was a present, I swear!). This is my lazy time because Lord knows it'll all change in a matter of weeks.
-I love the snow. I love it even more when I have something to do in the fresh snow. Winter was more enjoyable when we went sledding or slooding. Now everyone works and is too tired at the end of the day to head to the hill at Southwestern. Someone, anyone, please!! I want to learn to ski or snowboard! I can snowboard on my Wii but I have a feeling it's extremely different when the factors of nature are actually taken into account.
-I've had a 4 and a half foot Winston Pine Christmas tree, including ornaments and lights, under my bed for the last two years. Next year will be the first time I get to set it up. I think this has me more excited than the idea of actually finishing school!
-Pink Coach, White Chanel...enough said.
-Currently reading "The Gospel According to Biff". Hilarious. Keep an open mind while reading it, don't take it too seriously. It's just a story...a funny one at that.
-Open your eyes, please. Don't make me recant all the good things I've said...not again.

It's actually a very funny story...you should ask

**24 Things To Do If You're Going To Fail An Exam Anyways**

1. Talk the entire way through the exam. Read questions aloud, debate your answers with yourself out loud. If asked to stop, yell out, "I'm SOOO sure that you can hear me thinking." Then start talking about what a jerk the instructor is.
2. Bring a Game Boy. Play with the volume at max level.
3. Run into the exam room looking about frantically. Breathe a sigh of relief. Go to the instructor, say "They've found me, I have to leave the country" and run off.
4. Come into the exam wearing slippers, a bathrobe, a towel on your head, and nothing else.
5. As soon as the instructor hands you the exam, eat it.
6. Every 5 min. stand up, collect all your things, move to another seat, continue with the exam.
7. Turn in the exam approx. 30 min. into it. As you walk out, start commenting on how easy it was.
8. Come to the exam wearing a black cloak. After about 30 min, put on a white mask and start yelling "I'm here, the phantom of the opera" until they drag you away.
9. If the exam is math/sciences related, make up the longest proofs you could possible think of. Get pi and imaginary numbers into most equations. If it is a written exam, relate everything to your own life story.
10. Try to get people in the room to do a wave.
11. Bring some large, cumbersome, ugly idol. Put it right next to you. Pray to it often. Consider a small sacrifice.
12. Take 6 packages of rice cakes to the exam. Stuff at least 2 rice cakes into your mouth at once. Chew, then cough. Repeat if necessary.
13. Walk in, get the exam, sit down. About 5 min into it, loudly say to the instructor, "I don't understand ANY of this. I've been to every lecture all semester long! What's the deal? And who the hell are you? Where's the regular guy?"
14. Do the entire exam in another language.
15. Bring a black marker. Return the exam with all questions and answers completely blacked out.
16. Every now and then, clap twice rapidly. If the instructor asks why, tell him/her in a very derogatory tone, "the light bulb that goes on above my head when I get an idea is hooked up to a clapper. DUH!"
17. From the moment the exam begins, hum the theme to Jeopardy. Ignore the instructor's requests for you to stop. When they finally get you to leave one way or another, begin whistling the theme to the Bridge on the River Kwai.
18. After you get the exam, call the instructor over, point to any question, ask for the answer. Try to work it out of him/her.
19. In the middle of the test, have a friend rush into the classroom, tag your hand, and resume taking your test for you. When the teacher asks what's going on, calmly explain the rules of Tag Team Testing to him/her.
20. Bring cheat sheets FOR ANOTHER CLASS (make sure this is obvious... like history notes for a calculus exam... otherwise you're not just failing, you're getting kicked out too) and staple them to the exam, with the comment "Please use the attached notes for references as you see fit."
21. Stand up after about 15 minutes, and say loudly, "Okay, let's double-check our answers! Number one, A. Number two, C. Number three, E...."
22. Wear a superman outfit under your normal clothes. 30 minutes into the exam, jump up and answer your phone, shouting "What? I'm on my way!!". rip off your outer clothes and run out of the room. strike a pose first for added effect.
23. Tailgate outside the classroom before the exam.
24. If your answers are on a scantron sheet, fill it out in pen.

The Final Stretch

This is it. Another semester is coming to an end. Exams, papers and projects are all due within one week of each other.

And I'm spending my evening watching Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel. I will NOT feel bad about this in the morning.

Ever since Thanksgiving break, especially with a trip to Georgia thrown in prior, I have not been motivated to do much work. I've been avoiding the library since I practically lived there before my trips but am afraid I must return for an all day trip tomorrow. With three exams in a two day period next Monday and Tuesday, I suppose I should start reviewing my notes soon :-/

At this point, I can't help but think that I get to leave Springfield to go back home to MI next week. After about three and a half months, I finally get to sleep in my own bed! Wait...not just my own bed. A real bed!! This air mattress thing is getting kinda old but I guess I should be grateful that I have somewhere to sleep each night.

Since I have not been doing much studying recently, I have been able to comprise a breif list of some favs...

"I Hate Christmas Parties" by Relient K
"Franklin" by Paramore
"Possibility" by Lykke Li
"Friends" by Band of Skulls
"Bad Romance" by Lady GaGa
"Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble
"If My Heart Was A House" by Owl City
"The Only Exception" by Paramore
"Ain't No Rest For the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant
"Shooting the Moon" by Ok Go
"Deathbed" by Relient K
"Electric Twist" by A Fine Frenzy
"Hey Soul Sister" by Train
"Smile" by Uncle Kracker
"No Sound But the Wind" by Editors
"Georgia on My Mind" by Michael Buble

What's a Partridge? What's a Pear Tree?

I don't know so please don't ask me,
But I can bet they are terrible gifts to get!

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year. I love the snow. I love red and green together. I love turning on my Christmas music loudly and singing at the top of my lungs.

What is one thing you love about this time of the year?

I finally broke down yesterday and bought Relient K's Christmas album "Let it Snow Baby...Let it Reindeer". I don't think I've stopped listening to it since!!
I saw this music video a few weeks ago and think it is absolutely adorable :-)

Secret Sunday

So it's not really Sunday but I had to share this...

I love postsecret.com and it's one of the first things I check when I wake up on a Sunday morning.


"I'm a lot better before you really know me"
"I act like an idiot 'cause...I don't know...'cause I have a void in my heart"
"My wings are too big to be tied down"
"You've occupied my thoughts for two & a half years...& every thought ends with 'if only'"
"It's out there. & it's so much bigger than I imagined"

Nooma 001- Rain

Believe it or not, I feel that crying is good for the soul. That sudden release of emotions can feel so liberating. Crying is not admitting to weakness but admitting that you are human and not strong enough to handle life's problems alone, that help is needed.

For the first time in a long time, I fell to my knees crying this weekend. The stress, madness, and overwhelming feelings over the past few weeks (despite that I had two breaks away from Springfield) hit me hard. I've felt like I've been riding such an emotional rollercoaster, similar to the Millennium Force at Cedar Point! The ups and downs of homework, papers, exams and friends truly has tested my patience, my loyalty....and my faith. My faith that God would not let me feel this hurt, stress and loneliness for no reason at all.

I fell to my knees crying this weekend and finally gave it all to God. Something I struggled with through college was giving up only what I wanted. "Well, God, you can have this. But really, I know what I'm doing with this, let me handle it". Sound familiar? Don't lie, you know you've gone through the same thing. I want to give it all to God because I know there is no other way for me to get through the challenges of every day life. I don't want to stress myself out over the little things, over situations that I do not have control over. So if I put it in His hands, then I know that whatever comes of it is His will, not my own.

Rob Bell talks about how we don't need to have our lives perfect and all-together in order to have a relationship with God. He calls us out to come to Him broken, with all our messes and our junk. And when we cry out to God, He is near. I thought I had it all together, although some days I knew I didn't. I guess I never really had it all together to begin with. So I finally held out my hands with all my junk and dropped it in His hands. "I can't do this alone anymore. Take it. Do with it what you want. But please don't let me get hurt again."

Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars

Apparently I need to do more baking that requires me working for scratch, no more breaking off squares then placing on a cookie sheet. I think this will be my next adventure...

Ingredients
Crust:
20 chocolate wafer cookies
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground coffee beans
1/4 teaspoon fine salt

Filling:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, room temperature

Glaze:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon light or dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons sour cream, room temperature
1/2 cup crushed candy canes (see Cooks Note)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil.

For the crust: Process the chocolate wafers in a food processor with the butter, sugar, coffee, and salt until fine. Evenly press the crust into the prepared dish covering the bottom completely. Bake until the crust sets, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl; heat at 75 percent power until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir, and continue to microwave until completely melted, up to 2 minutes more. (Alternatively put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.)

Blend the cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream together in the food processor until smooth. Scrape down the sides, as needed. Add the eggs and pulse until just incorporated. With the food processor running, pour the chocolate into the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Pour the filling evenly over the crust. Bake until filling puffs slightly around the edges, but is still a bit wobbly in the center, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

For the Glaze: Put the chocolate, butter and corn syrup in microwave safe bowl. Heat glaze in the microwave at 75 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes. Stir the ingredients together until smooth; add the sour cream. Spread glaze evenly over the warm cake and scatter the crushed candy canes over top. Cool completely, then refrigerate overnight.

Cut into small bars or squares. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Store cookies covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.