Merry Christmas!!

Just wanted to drop in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!! We have a white Christmas this year which is very unusual! Normally it would be very exciting except that it has been snowing almost nonstop since I first arrived back home. Megan and I have blamed some of our recent insanity on cabin fever as we haven't been able to get out of the house very much. But it's been fun though. We should suffer from cabin fever more often :) Well, I'm off. Hopefully I'll get on back on top of this blogging thing eventually. Anyway, happy holidays everyone!!

So Close...

So I decided you all deserved a brief update as I have been slacking. Finals week is almost over. I will be home on Saturday!!!! So exciting! The most exciting news of the day: somebody stole our toilet seats! Out of all the things to steal, I can't imagine why you would want to steal that. I keep wondering where they hid them. I just hope we get them back soon. Wow, I can't think of anything else to say... My life isn't usually this boring.... Well, my brain is fried I guess. I only have a few big things left then I have to clean for white glove. I really should go finish my homework. Later!!

Blah...

I think it is my curse to become sick during what would normally be considered fun/exciting events! It's like my body waits until that moment when the most fun will occur and BAM! it crashes. I first felt this year's cold coming on Tuesday night. Ever since then I've been irratable, stuffy, and the like. It really puts a damper on the Thanksgiving festivities especially since we have family over. Ah well. At least I'm not throwing up. I've had one of those Thanksgivings too. Anyway, I hope you all had a good holiday. I'll be heading back to the Burg on Sunday.

I'm just a loser with nothing to talk about...

Good news. I am home with my family for the week. It is way nice to be home!!! Today we saw Twilight for free as my younger brother works at the theater. I wasn't very impressed with it. The first book is actually my favorite out of the four so I suppose I may have had some expectations. I hear they have plans to make a second movie. I will probably end up seeing it, knowing me. Well, as I'm relaxing with the fam we are watching one of our favorite movies, The Burbs. I'm sure most people find it strange, but then again, we are a weird family. Therefore, it fits us completely. Here's a little clip so you will know what you are missing out on.

So Excited!

For Stephanie Nielsen

Here it is! The recipe for my mom's chili!!!


1 lb groud beef
1/8 tsp garlic powder (or more to taste)
1 can kidney beans
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 c. water
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp basil



Brown the ground beef and add the onion and garlic to the pan. Drain the beans and tomatoes and add to the meat, cutting up the tomatoes as you stir them in. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes.


I like to top it with cheese and sour cream. It's really good with cornbread too!!!

For Mary Bricker

So I never did give you this recipe Mary. So here it is!!!



Quick Chicken Enchiladas

2 to 3 c. cut up chicken (or two cans if you're in a hurry)
1 can cream of chicken soup
Nacho chees tortilla chips
2 c. grated cheese
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 c. chunky salsa (or more to taste)



Mix the salsa, sour cream, and soup in a 9x13 in. pan. Add in meat and grated cheese. Cruch up 4 to 6 large handfuls of chips into the casserole. Stir in. Can sprinkle more cheese on top if desired. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

I Am:

- Extremely tired
- Ready for a break
- Somehow still happy at the same time...

I'm thinking my happiness stems from a few things. Here comes list number two!!!

- I have a family who loves me
- I got a bunch of random hugs today
- I've had the pleasure to meet tons of awesome people this semester
- I'm not failing classes
- And I believe in a God who loves me and watches out for me

Everything is going to work out in the end. What more can I ask for?

She's Done it Again!!

What is it I've done again? Why, I've taken time out of my day to play with photo editing!!!! So some weekend before this one we are currently living through, Stephanie, Lindsey and I went around campus and took a bunch of photos!!! Now I didn't edit all of them so I'll let you see those as well as all of the edited versions I did make!!! I've kind of felt like being crafty, and since I don't have the same resources here as I do at home, this is pretty much as far as it gets in the photo area. I told Laura to rub some of her craftiness on me but she's convinced it doesn't work that way. Ah well. So I hope you enjoy some pictures!!!

Ye classic BYU-I sign picture!! There was some concern on how to get on top. That was too bad until we had to figure out how to get down without dying...Stephanie in particular. But as you can probably guess, we got it all figured out.

This tree by the Hinkley building just looked like it needed a friend. I was actually really distracted by the stairs. You will see why in the next pictures....

Haha cool they look connected....

We needed a good all fall picture. Most of the leaves were good and dead already. So what better thing to do then throw them in the air!!

We ended up going to the gardens and found this willow tree. I like willow trees. Okay the first set of pictures are over. Now it's time to give you a mix of the ones I edited!!! On some you'll get four different versions of one pic! I'm not saying all of them are good though. Haha.

After these beautiful pictures, Stephanie, Chelsea and I took more some night when we were the only ones home. I will only put one on because I only edited one.

Digital Scrapbooking Experiment

So this is my attempt at digital scrapbooking using what photobucket has to offer. These photos are meant to be a mini scrapbook in themselves. Anyway, this is my first attempt and hopefully not my last.

Back to the Caveman Days

Last night was our ward Halloween party complete with prizes for the best costumes. We decided to dress up as cavewomen. We were pretty awesome if I do say so myself. As you can see by the pictures some of us got more into it than others... So in my defense I wasn't even going to go. It was a very last minute thing throwing a leopard skin over my head, jumping in the car, and going to the BYU-I livestock center which so appropriately smelled of cow pies.

I actually did enjoy myself. I got free food including a cupcake!! I also got to hang out with some pretty awesome guys from my ward. Okay so like half of them were my FHE brothers but they still count. There were various activities including the all time favorite "bobbing for apples" which I did not participate in. And no, my excuse was not because of all the germs I'd be sharing, but rather it reminded me too much of my first and only time bobbing for apples. It was a Halloween party at the Hairston's and the water just happened to get mixed with various flavors of pop as well as skittles (taste the rainbow!!!). It turns out that all of those things mixed together smells like puke. So just imagine trying to grab an apple in your mouth from a bowl of vomit. That's pretty much what it was like and my hair smelled like it afterwards....tragic. So no more bobbing for apples for me.

There were other activities like a cake walk and steer roping (which I discovered I suck at...). But mostly I just enjoyed getting free food and hanging out!! My roommates were a little upset that we did not win any prizes for our awesome costumes. But hey, Village People got 3rd place. That's right, our neighbors dressed up as the Village People and danced to YMCA for us. I got a picture with my favorite group member which is Chelsea....

Hot stuff, no?

I Survived!!

So this morning in my grammar class, Megan turns to me and says, "Hey, wanna go to Utah with me this weekend?" I was a bit hesitant at first, but then I decided it would be fun. After my classes, I threw some stuff together and her friend Andy picked us up. We'd only been driving for like two minutes before the unexpected happened. Another driver pulled right out in front of us. Andy tried to avoid the car by turning to the right but there was no escape. Andy's car is now totalled. The air bags went off and everything. No one was seriously hurt, although Andy has some pain in his shoulder. After the accident, Andy's horn was going off nonstop. The only way to get it to stop was to pull on the airbag. Andy pulled it tight and wrapped it around the stirring wheel to make it stop. So as you can imagine, Megan and I are stuck in Rexburg this weekend.

Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!!

This is a Martha Stewart recipe that my roommates tried out. The cookies are so soft! I love them.



Ingredients

Makes about 2 dozen
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons sour cream
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup milk-chocolate chips


Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with sour cream, and beat until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips by hand. Cover, and freeze for 10 minutes.
Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. Bake until centers are set and cookies are pale golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes.

He's there, the Phantom of the Opera!

I just listened to the Phantom of the Opera (with Michael Crawford) a little bit ago. I'm sad I wasn't able to see it in Seattle....but school is important too. Anyway, it is beautiful and seems somewhat fitting for this time of year.

Last night for FHE we went to the Haunted Mill. It was my first time and I was a little nervous as I am very easily scared. We had to break up our group because you could only go in groups of 5. It was kind of creepy but I somehow managed to stifle my fear. Maybe that's because all the monster went after Stephanie because she kept screaming or maybe the fact that Matt kept trying to make me jump (he failed horribly by the way...) and he therefore distracted me from the scary monsters. They definitely had some good effects. If I had been in a different or smaller group, I'm sure I could have been scared. Their white lady with a saw was kind of creepy, but I was expected it. Anyway, monsters tend to be less scary when you expect them, know they aren't real, and you say hello to them every once in a while. Now if I were to run into a real werewolf, it would be an entirely different story.

We've decorated our apartment for this lovely Halloween season. The cobwebs looked really good at first but now they are starting to fall and look all clumpy. We will be carving pumkins next week, so we'll be able to add that classic touch to our humble abode.

This past weekend was mother's weekend. Three of my roommates had their mother's over. It was actually a lot of fun! McKenzie's mom was so nice! She bought Chelsea, Lindsey, and me packages of candy because our moms couldn't make it. She also bought us doughnuts and pizza. Wierd combination I'll admit, but you never ever ever complain about free food. That's pretty much my current philosophy of life. On friday, we played a whole bunch of games. We played scum, guesstures, catch phrase, and hilerium (spelled wrong...). We ended up having a big group which made it all the more entertaining. Afterwards, I got to hang out with Megan, Landon, Landon's brother (I can't remember his name!!), and Caleb (a guy in my ward). We watch the Office which is always great fun. The following picture was taken whilst we were playing guesstures. I was trying to get them to guess flytrap. They eventually got it.

On Saturday, Chelsea and Lindsey were insane. We ended up taking a bunch of really good pictures.

Other fun activites of the weekend included watching Lion King films, candy kiss wars, and even pillow fights. I have some pictures more pictures that aren't on my computer yet. I'll have to put them on because I got some good ones of Chelsea and our FHE brother, Matt, fighting each other. It's pretty awesome.

Well, I have a bunch of homework but I am determined to make sure this blog lives on!!! Until we meet again! Adieu!

Would you like a free handbag perchance?

Well stop sitting around and do something about it!! I've come across this site (thanks to the lovely Laura and Emma who pointed me in the right direction) where they are giving away some free handbags. It's worth a shot right? So check them out at www.handbagplanet.com. Who knows? You could be the next winner!!!

Rexburg: The Sequel

So I decided it's about time I showed you some pictures of my new set of crazy roommates. I was a little nervous at the thought of rooming with 5 other girls, but now all fear is gone. They are lots of fun and they laugh at all my stupid jokes which earns them even more bonus points.

Ok, from left to right we have McKenzie, Stephanie, Lindsey, Me, Shantelle, and Chelsea down in front. Lindsey and Shantelle are in the nursing program, bless their hearts. They have to get up way early and I don't think Lindsey does anything other than study! Unless of course we bug her enough to make her join in our random festivities. She also seems to really enjoy picking apples. Just a side note.

McKenzie is...well...special? Haha. She is actually totally gangster as you can see in the picture below. She is a softball player and she is the only freshman in our group. Ah isn't she cute! There are some perks to having a freshmen around. Being a freshman automatically equals your family loading you up with more things then necissary to survive on your own. We are very privledged to have McKenzie and her random items of goodness, like a apple peeler/corer for instance!!

McKenzie, Stephanie, and I had an afternoon of gangsterness. It was pretty much a disaster. We did however make a video to "This is Why I'm Hot" now available on Facebook. We made another one but that one sucks so much that it is not even worthy to be on Facebook. Other videos that fit in that category are the multiple videos of our appartment attempted to do the worm. I'm pretty sure the apartment below us hates us by now with all of our thumping. Oh well. They are just jealous.

Then there is Chelsea. You can tell how unique she is just by looking at her. Haha. She is a really good singer. Last Sunday, we went into the upper lounge and sang our little hearts out. Some girl's ending up kicking us out because they were going to have a meeting, but before we left they made sure to tell us how good we sounded. Aw my self-esteem was just boosted!

So anyway, there is an overview of the crazy cool girls that you wish you all knew. Rexburg itself has still been pretty warm. I'm hoping this means a delay in snowfall. :) You may think you like snow but if you ever spend a winter in Rexburg, you'll change your mind.

Oh happy day!

So today was one of those days where you wake and think "today is going to suck". It actually did to for the beginning. But all the bad things of this morning dissolved away when I received some very good news this afternoon. On Friday, I submitted some writing for a pre-professional writers conference we are having here on campus. Today I got an e-mail telling me that my critical essay I wrote on Hamlet received 2nd place!! So now I get to read my essay at a conference full of a bunch of other nerdy english people!!! I am so excited!

Today wasn't so bad after all.

Rain is Beautiful

So there is currently a lovely thunderstorm raging outside. I've never seen this much rain in Rexburg. It makes me happy.

Can you say love?

So this guy is pretty much awesome.





In other news, I have so much homework all the times!!! But somehow I still manage to procrastinate....

I tried out for the musical "She Loves Me." I didn't get in but now I'm thinking that's a blessing in disguise!! Plus I still get to act for my acting class so it's all good. I have five awesome roommates (Mckenzie, Stephenie, Chelsea, Lindsey, and Shantelle). They are all pretty much as wierd as I am. Crazy huh?

Megan lives two floors below me. I like having her around. She really helps in my procrastination efforts! Yesterday we got free frozen custard and french fries with our starving student cards. It was awesome! Especially since it is still really hot! But I'm not complaining. Maybe the snow will be fashionably late this year. There's always dreaming right?

I just finished reading the Golden Compass for a young adult lit class. I kind of wanted to judge it for myself what with all the controversy and stuff. I didn't think I was going to like it at first. It was ok but I really wasn't getting into it. Towards the end I started to connect with Lyra and some of the other characters. It's what made the book come alive for me and I think I will finish the rest of the series before I make a complete judgement.

Hmm what else is there? The Office starts back up soon. That's pretty exciting... Okay that's kind of all I have for now. P.S. You should check out Taylor Swifts "Love Song" on youtube. My whole apartment is addicted to it.

Back from the Dead

Hello all. I am back in the burg, school starts tomorrow, and I decided that it is time to revive the blog! I know you have all missed me out there! I can't believe I haven't been on here since the beginning of June. I was checking out Mary's blog and I was like "woah, a bunch has happened." It will be tough to bring this blog up in coolness level but I think it can be done. I'm trusting you devoted readers!! I am nothing without my fans :)

The Happiest Place on Earth

I don't know about you, but this picture does not make Disney Land seem like the happiest place on earth....

Wallace Falls

On Saturday, Megan, Stuart, and I thought we were all going to have to work Saturday. We were very happy when we were told that we would have the day off. So our family went on a hike to Wallace Falls. We even took the dog with us. Some lady called her chubby though. She hasn't been the same since...poor thing. Anywho, I took a bunch of photos and here are a few of hem for your enjoyment!!!

Molly was afraid of of this bridge because of the gaps between the planks of wood. She sort of squatted and waddled across. Stuart ended up picking her up and carrying her across.

Sadly, thanks to a little help from Stuart, Megan fell into a very exciting swimming hole. When she didn't come back up after 5 minutes I jumped in after her and saved her. Okay so she didn't actually fall in...

I like hikes.

Dear Beloved Past Roommates....

Mary Bricker and S. Bloom......
HOLY COW!! That was like the longest message in the world. I'm still listening to it actually. In case you couldn't guess, I sleep now that I'm home. Sara stop beating up Mary and stop telling lies. Okay so the message just ended with a would you rather but I didn't get to hear the rather. Sorry Mary. Oh and Mary, I would not appreciate a bag of flaming poo (especially if it is Sara's). Also I'm not sure if I should be offended that the only thing you miss about me is my strainer... I'm proud of you for decorating and you should send me pictures. I'm also proud of you for returning that monkey back to it's natural habitat. Now you just have to get Sara's shoes there.... I am willing to bet that I will not owe you ice cream by the end of the summer. Just FYI. Although Mary you should definitely get me a steak dinner (even though Sara was obviously lying). Sara, be strong. I heard that you are still in love. You can make it through this.....I expect steak from you too. Mary, the best way to get back at Sara is to tickle, punch, or scare her. Also steal her stuff or post lies about her on the internet. Well, I am starting a new job today. Hooray! So I best be off. Mary I hope you have an early class and that you check this right away. It sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun and I'm jealous that I can't be there enjoying all of this. Oh Mary, another good thing to do to Sara is to come up behind her and grab her sides. That's the easiest way to get her to squeal. You might want to start putting stuff in front of your door at night.... Who knows what she will do. Have a good day and don't drive your 1 new roommate insane.

Your awesome ex-roommate,
Danielle

P.S. Sara, knock right back at the people next door and you better still be singing Disney songs even though I am not there. Mary, if you didn't see the new episode of the office last week, you should totally watch it online on nbc.com. Sara would enjoy it too if she was cool enough to appreciate the awesomeness of the office. The End.

Goodbye Idaho and Hello Washington

Sooooooooo I'm pretty sure I'm in trouble since it's taken me so long to update my blog. Hopefully it will be worth it. Although I am happy to be back in my beloved Washington, there are a few things in Idaho that I will miss.

Mary Bricker, coolest kid in the dorm. She's so cool that she sleeps with her guitar!!! But not really. She just posed.

She made delicious oatmeal raisin cookies this one time and she still had a lot of dough leftover. So of course we made a giant cookie. Mary was nice enough to share with me. Hazzah!

Sara Holloway (watch out, she's a pathological liar!!), she loves softball! She also likes to be busy and punch people in the face apparently. She is beautiful!

Also, Mimi is awesome but I don't have a picture of her at this time.

In other news! So one of our last nights together, we decided to ding dong ditch (in my case it was just ditching) and we invited people over for a goodbye BBQ. Well, we got destracted by what appeared to be a snow cave.

It turns out that it was a slide with dog poop located smack dab in the opening. We went down the slide (hurting our bums on the way) and I was the fortunate one who stuck her hand in the dog poop. That stank so bad!!! Also, Sara's butt was so wet that she looked like she had a major accident AND she decided to climb the fence instead of going around to the opening. That's right ladies and gentlemen, Sara ripped her pants for the second time that semester.

Oh I forgot another activity. We had a movie night! We made homemade pizza (I totally overate) and watched Night at the Museum. We had fun socializing and such. Mary took Steve to the junk table in the lounge and made him try on a bunch of clothes. The result was the following picture:

Once my parents came to town, we went out to eat a lot. One of the places we stopped at was Gandolfos. Yummy yummy!!! I made Laura take a picture of me and the statue of liberty.

After I checked out of my dorm, I had the pleasure to go to Stuart and Laura's and help them clean!!! We got some space bags and took a part their love sac so there would be more room. We got little foam pieces everywhere!

I was very excited to be done cleaning. As we left Rexburg, I was greeted by a sunset. What a perfect way to say goodbye.