The Day Has Finally Come

I'm easing myself into the pictures thing. First it was my room, now I'm going to show you a picture from my skydiving adventure!

I picked this one because you can't really tell what I look like. I'm not sure if I want the Internet world to be able to connect a name to a face...because although I won't reveal my last name, Sarah Elizabeth is real and having people (that I don't know) have that information AND what I look like kind of scares me.

So enjoy this for now until I monitor Google Analytics for any creepers:

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Helpful Hint - Lasagna

One thing my blog friends may not know about me is: I LOVE to cook. I started watching the Food Network a few years ago and have been cooking up a storm since then. I ask for things like chopping knives and cookware sets for birthdays and Christmas (not what the typical 21 year old is requesting, I'm sure). And I just realized cooking is a part of me that I haven't shared very much on my blog. So I'm going to make a conscious effort to include more foodie posts. Recently I have found myself slowing down in the kitchen due to food prices on the rise and other factors restricting my budget. It is expensive to cook y'all!

In this crazy economy I have found it extremely helpful to make a big dish at the beginning of the week and eat from it all week long. One of my favorite dishes to make (and honestly does last all week...sometimes even longer) is lasagna. This recipe came from a cookbook my mom has, but I have made some changes. I really like the sauce, so naturally I have adapted the recipe to make more...but if you aren't so much of a sauce person, take some out. Also, I am IN LOVE WITH garlic. I put more in my recipe than I have written here, but I won't divulge exactly how much because it might actually frighten you - adapt that part to your liking as well.

Ingredients:

Sauce:
1 lb. hot sausage
4 cloves garlic minced (or can use handheld grater - works like a charm!)
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 15 oz. can tomato paste
2 tbl. dried basil
S&P

Cheese Filling:
24 oz. container cottage cheese
2 tbl. parsley flakes
2 eggs
3/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
S&P

Other:
10 lasagna noodles
2 8oz. packages sliced Mozzarella cheese

You Will Need:
Large pot for cooking noodles
Large/deep skillet for sauce
5 qt. baking dish

To Make:
Start by browning the sausage completely. While you are waiting for the sausage to brown, mix all cheese filling ingredients in a bowl and set in fridge until ready to use. Drain off excess oil. Add garlic, saute for 30 seconds (don't burn!) then add all tomato products, basil and S&P. Let simmer 30 minutes.

When the sauce begins to simmer, start to boil the water for the noodles. Salt the water when it comes to a boil and add the 10 noodles. You can add a couple more noodles here just for back-up, but I have never needed them.

When noodles are cooked and sauce has simmered for 30 minutes, you are ready to assemble.

To Assemble:
1st layer 3 noodles on the bottom of the baking dish. Put 2 noodles over the seams between the first layer of noodles. Layer 1/2 of the refrigerated cheese mixture on top. Put 1/3 of the sauce mixture on top of that. Next, layer one package of sliced mozzarella. Repeat process. You will have 1/3 of the sauce left to put on top of the second package of sliced mozzarella.

ENJOY!

Strange Fridays

Here we go again...

"City Threatens Blind Woman Over 1 Cent Bill" Even if she wasn't blind...1 cent people!?

"Man in Wheelchair Allegedly Hides Cash in Leg" This headline actually makes me feel queasy.

"Driver Sentenced for Throwing Axe at Motorist" Man, I thought I had it bad. Can anyone say...road rage?

"Boy Allegedly Hits Mom with Saw, Offers Her $5" $5 is all it takes to get away with battery!?...haha this one is my favorite!

"Ind. Inmates Sneak Through Ceiling to Have Sex" I can't event comment on this one.

"Fla. Man Accused of Hurling Sandwich at Girlfriend" Honestly, this is like the 3rd or 4th violent food-related action I have seen in the past few months. How does this make the news!?

Well that's it for now. I hope you got a good laugh out of some of these and have a great weekend!

Dru Isn't Coming

Yep. That's right. Let down by a boy...yet again. I feel like that is the story of my life. So here is the story:

When Dru called Monday, I was at the mall and only got to talk to him for a short while before I needed to hang up. Tuesday he didn't call, and last night as I was leaving from babysitting my adorable cousins, he still hadn't called. So I texted, "Are you still coming this weekend?" About 20 minutes later he calls and informs me that, despite the fact he has had his plane ticket booked for over 2 weeks now, he isn't going to be able to come.

Apparently, this weekend is opening weekend of rifle season in Alabama. It is family tradition that they all go down to one of their "farms" (aka giant patch of land with a beautiful house - no animals except the ones you can shoot) and hunt. Siblings come home from college, grandparents come...the whole 9 yards. And he didn't realize this because opening weekend is "always the weekend of the Alabama/Auburn game" (which is next weekend).

Well, Dru, you should have checked.

As you are all well aware of, I have been getting ready for his visit for weeks now. I have decorated, I bought 4 tickets to the UNC/NCSU game ($260!), my mom was going to make brunch, etc. I had the weekend planned all out. I was going to clean, do laundry, and make a breakfast casserole tomorrow before he got here!

So I'm sure you can imagine how disappointed I am. Of course I can't be "mad" at him because I value family traditions just as much as the next person, but I am upset. I am upset that he didn't check beforehand to make sure that nothing was going on. What that says to me is that this trip wasn't important enough for him to ask around and make sure everything was going to work out. I'm upset because he waited until 2 days before he was supposed to get here to tell me. If I hadn't texted him last night, would I still not know he was coming? When would he have called? Friday afternoon?

One thing that bothers me the most is: I'm not sure he understands how upset I am over this. I actually cried last night...I don't cry...especially not in front of people. I cried to my mom, dad, sister, best friend and even cried myself to sleep. My eyes hurt today. I want him to understand that I was looking forward to spending time with him and that I was really let down when he said he couldn't come. But I don't want to make him feel like he is choosing between his family and me, because that is not the case. I want him to have traditions and family values, that is one thing I love most about him, but I want him to be able to stick to his commitments to me as well, and that means planning ahead.

Another factor is that we haven't exactly established "what we are." For a while, I thought this was best. But it is really starting to become more of a burden than not. I was in a long-distance relationship with Gary (the ex) for over 6 months when he moved to California. That was easier because I knew where I stood with him. I knew that he wanted to be with me and that I would hear from him. There was no gray area. With Dru, since we haven't established rules, there are no justified expectations. I don't know if I can get mad at him for not calling sooner or I don't know if I can tell him I was really looking forward to seeing him without scaring him off. There are so many uncertainties with us it really makes a long-distance relationship harder.

Should I bring this up? I have always felt like that is the boy's place, but I don't know if I can handle it anymore. He also said he doesn't think he will be able to make it back for another 3 weeks! That will have been 6 weeks in between visiting each other. It is hard, but I'm willing to do it because I genuinely like this guy...I just need to know where I stand with him.

Any and all advice will, as always, be greatly appreciated!

Quick Observation

I'm in the library at my school right now and on the cubicle I'm
sitting at someone has written, "dipset 4 life skull gang 4 eva."

If you are so hardcore why were you in the library?

Finally Some Pictures!

I promised, now I must deliver. Here are some pictures of my newly decorated room. I didn't take many pictures, and they aren't that great quality (I actually took these right before I left for work from my phone)...but hey at least you get the idea.

Here is my beautiful unmade bed. It stays this way 100% of the time. Why make it when you are going to get back in it in a few hours!? That wall is the only wall in my room that is painted. It used to be yellow - but that wasn't working out so I chose hunter green. If I decide I don't like the green soon, I will transition to scarlet red...what do you think? Oh, also, I made that headboard!

This is my adorable iron torso that I use to hang jewelry from. It is to the left of my bed (you can see part of the green wall). Also, those pictures were just recently put up. They consist of me, roommate, best guy friend Al and some of the family. You can also barely see one of my window panels. It is kind of a metallic silver (in next picture too).

The light was being funky, so it was hard to get a good picture that really showed my panels and all of the great beauty that they possess, but here you can also see the giant mirror I got from Home Goods. I promise it goes great with the window treatments, even though you can't really tell in this picture.

And finally, the other wall (to the right of my bed). The two pictures (even though you can't make out faces) are of me and my dad and me and my mom at my graduation from high school (I know they are old pictures, but they are great black and whites...). I bought my initials from Michael's. They are wooden and actually came painted white, but roommate and I got creative one night and turned them black. The little clock is from Target and was pretty cheap. The reed diffuser smells like apples and cinnamon and makes me hungry every time I walk into my room.

So there you have it people, the general design of my room. I'm so happy with the way things turned out. I have put up a couple of things in my bathroom, and am waiting on some towels and my shower curtain to be monogrammed, but then I will put up pictures of that finished product as well.

PS I did this post on Tuesday and set it to come up today (Wednesday). I love this feature more than anything. That way I can have something for everyone to read almost everyday without having to remind myself to do it at home! Why didn't I think of this before!? Genius!

Weekly Update

My weekend was, interesting. For starters, roommate and I went out Thursday night. We don't usually do this because we are old hags who prefer to stay in and watch TV and go to bed promptly at 11PM. But for some reason we got this crazy notion to go out. We drank too much and I missed my two classes on Friday.

Friday night we went to UNC-Chapel Hill to hang out with Al (my best guy friend) and some of his friends from his study abroad in Spain last semester. I was still recovering from the night before so I took it easy. I don't really enjoy being sober at a bar where everyone else is drunk, but Friday night wasn't so bad. Roommate and I got hit on 4 times and each time was equally as disturbing.

Saturday we had a football game. The festivities began at 10AM. Bad idea. We didn't stop drinking until 2AM. I was in rare form that night. Gary, the ex, tried to kiss me. In all of my vulnerability, I almost caved in. But I didn't, and I'm so glad. Things are going great with Dru and I could have ruined it all for nothing. Gary and I will never work out again, so I don't know why we occasionally fool ourselves.

Speaking of Dru...HE COMES TO VISIT IN 3 DAYS! I couldn't be more excited. My apartment is coming together (see pictures tomorrow!) and I am running again and I feel like a giddy school girl. I'm also nervous. I really hope he has a good time. The plan is to maybe go out for a few drinks after he gets in Friday night (at 9:30!). The next morning we have to be up super early to make it to my sister's boyfriend's house by 8:30AM in Chapel Hill (30 minute drive). My school is playing her school in football and her boyfriend is hosting a "Kegs and Eggs" party. I'm going to make a breakfast casserole to take over. Yum! Maybe I can remember to post the recipe here...

My parents want to have a brunch at their house Sunday morning. And I don't know if I am ready to have Dru to my parents' house. I have been to his parents' house but it was really informal...I mean we just went over to show our skydiving videos then left. Ahh! But I know it will hurt my mom's feelings if I don't bring him over...so whatever. Hopefully my sister and her bf will be in attendance as well so it won't be as awkward.

Oh, my running! Yeah I started again (last night haha) because I will be participating in the annual 'Turkey Trot' in my cousin's neighborhood on Thanksgiving morning. I'm really excited that I have a goal to work towards. It is only a 5K, but I'm happy to start small and work my way up. The mimosa station is at her house too, so I'm SUPER excited about that part!

One last thing, then I'll end another one of my never ending posts. I'm going to my first work-related function on Thursday. It is a Toronto Stock Exchange luncheon, workshop, then networking cocktail. I'm so nervous I can already feel my hands shaking come Thursday morning. Here are some reasons why:

1. This event is specified on the website to be for CEOs and CFOs, financiers of private and public companies and advisors to private and public companies. I AM AN INTERN.
2. I don't have a business card...did I mention this is a networking event.
3. I understand the TSX less than I understand the US stock exchanges (to which my knowledge is far from impressive).
4. I'm not really even sure how to explain what my company does. I only help with the basic stuff.
5. I've never been to a networking event before.

Maybe I should quit my whining and take it all in. I know this will be a great learning experience for me and probably great for my career as well. I should thank my boss for inviting me to attend, and really learn from everything I hear and everyone I meet. But any suggestions in getting over the initial nervousness would really help!

Have a great week everyone!