Twilight All Night

So, naplobomo didn't work for me this time. Maybe next year. I'm still in Utah and I just got my internet to work at Amber's house. Woohoo!

I decided to let everyone know what I thought about the Twilight movie.

First, I liked the books. I think they are a fun escape from reality, they are complete fiction which is why I don't get to critical of them. And I think it's great that Stephanie Meyer wrote these for fun and now has enough money to use as mattress stuffing. I wish I could come up with a story that could make me millions.

Maybe something like this...
Once upon a time there was this girl who wanted so bad to be a fairy, and she tried and tried to make herself one. Like flying off the trampline with wings.. didn't work. Jumping from flower to flower.... that just made her mom mad. And then one day, she found a tree stump with a large hole in the bottom. She crawled in and....

Are you curious what happened? Would you pay 20 bucks a book to find out WHAT HAPPEND??

Give me some feedback, I need to make millions so I can buy everything on my lust list down below.

Back to the Twilight movie.

I tried to go into the theater with no expectations. And that I did. I thought the movie was great. I think they followed the book better than a lot of other book movies. The only thing I didn't like.... were the awkward camera angles. It killed the moments for me! The beautiful romantic moments... killed them.

Other than that. Great! I'm going to go again this week and take my husband. I just know he'll want to read the books after seeing it. ;)

p.s. the meet and greet was great. I'm sorry I had to leave early and that I didn't get to talk to the middle of the table. Next time maybe I'll invite a select few, and then rotate through my blogroll every few months. Would that work?? Oh! And Julie gave me a flower pot looking thing with tissue paper. Well, come to find when I opened it there were these AMAZING peanut butter cup things. Julie- I WANT that recipe. Not only have I eaten all of mine, I'm eating Amber's, too.

And Amber is being the best hostess. And Alexis keeps crawling into my bed at night because she can't sleep without me.

Noproblemo?

I have officially (besides the first of November) fallen off the nablopomo bandwagon. I didn't post yesterday. Too much to do!

I'm late to go take my test, which will probably make me late to my class, oopse.

I'm really excited for tonight. So excited that I hardly even studied last night (that's my sinky excuse, I hope it's a good one and my teach will give me a few extra points on this quiz... hahahhaa..ahh...).

Just a reminder:
Dinner tonight at Sampans in the South Towne mall at 7:00 p.m. - be there!

I hope to see everyone! Sorry Antarctica, you lose again.

I'm sorry for the MIA on your blogs lately, I haven't looked at one since Wednesday. I probably wont be able to until Tuesday.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Meet and Greet 2

I know your all so excited! I know I am.

If you haven't voted in the poll, please do now. We need the number to reserve a table. Even if you can't go, let me know so I know how many people to cross off my Christmas list.

Dinner is officially at 7:00 p.m. at Sampans in the South Towne mall on Friday the 21st. Reservations will be under both Kristina's and my name. So.. Whitney and Kristina, or Kristina and Whitney, however you like your green eggs and ham Sam I am.

I really hope everyone that is around can come. Believe me, the last one was so much fun you'll want to be there.

P.S. Today is my wonderful husbands birthday. I'll post pictures and about this wonderful man tomorrow :)

Lookey What I Can Do!

Shauna at Trying to Stay Calm posted a sweet post about how to make those hearts.

You know.... ♥♥these ones!!♥♥

Here I am, just about computer illiterate, I know how to blog and sort of use Word. So sad all the time because people do such cool things with a computer and keyboard. No one wants to learn me how.

Finally someone is going to teach me how to show my love out loud on the internet!

Not so fast, Whit.

She only showed how to make them on a keyboard with a number pad.

*tearing up* But I have a laptop!!

I thought about commiting bloggy suicide (no I didn't). I gave up all hope. Knew I could never love a comment.

I was wrong!

Shauna emailed me and told me how to do it on a laptop. So here it is. I know I know, the masses are squirming at the edge of their seat in anticipation.

Okay, for those of you with a laptop, find the blue Fn key. Then find the Alt key. Press them both down then press your blue 3. Mine is on the letter "L".

Fn+Alt+L= ♥

For those of you who are lucky enough to have a key pad, you hold down alt and the 3 on the key pad.

For some reason this has really excited me. I'm in a super good mood. See... I'm very easy to entertain and please.

you just have to surprise me with something from my lusting list 2 posts down to bring me true happiness. Kidding! sort of....

Leave a heart at the end of your comment

X♥X♥X♥ (see.... so much more personal and people can figure it out w/o having to guess what that darn O means.

Paying it Forward

I decided to play "Pay it Forward". Wendyburd is paying it forward to me and I am going to pay it forward to three other people.

"Here are the rules: The exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will, in their turn, pass the kindness along and pay it forward in their own way. This is how it works... I am going to agree to send something fun, inspiring or uplifting to the first 3 bloggers who post a comment on this entry (please leave your email address if I don't all ready have it.).

In turn you will then post about this on your blog, link to me, then send something to the first three people who sign up to play along through your blog. There are no cost restraints, but don't go crazy! The little something you send can be something you made, bought, were given or found. No biggie, just a gift that will make the person smile. Maybe something unique from where you live? And remember that kindness doesn't have to involve money; there are untold ways to help others every single day, everywhere you go - just look around."

Comment away!

p.s. Wendy, feel free to scroll down to my last post and send me one of those. Kidding!! kind of....

p.s.s. no, I'm not sending potatoes (especially one in the shape of a heart)

ps.s.s.s.s.s.s.s.s COME TO DINNER FRIDAY!

Top 11 Expensive Things I Want

But can't afford.

For any of you who have an extra few grand lying around wanting to be spent on a bloggy friend- Here's my list of things I can't afford but would LOVE!

#1

Bose: Ipod Sound Dock $299.00

#2

16 Gig Ipod Nano in Green $200.00

#3

Rock and Republic: Richelle in Black Patent $278.00

#4

William Rast: Daisy Super Flare Jupiter Wash $220.00

#5

Rock and Republic: Kasandra in Pandora Charm Blue $234.00

#6

Anthropologie: Bracing Gale Overcoat $248.00

#7

Anthropologie: Castellum Top $148.00

#8

Coach: Madison 1 Point Graffiti Tote $898
OR/AND

Coach: Lindsay Vintage Leather Shopper $798

#9

Anthropologie: Secret Joy Dress $168.00

#10

Anthropologie: Fruit Moon Dress $198.00

#11

Camper Shoe $123.00

I'll add a few things that are more feasably priced.

BKE Sole: Surfer Shoe $27.o0

On Your Feet Actress Shoe $19.75
Restricted: Swan Shoe $29.62

Someday I'll be rich and then I'll have everything on this list! (yeah right. Jaren's laughing at me on my Indian couches)

Stephanie's Baby Shower!

Alright. Today was the big day. Stephanie's baby shower. I woke up a little after 8, ate breakfast then got started cleaning at around 9:30. Not kidding when I say I cleaned ALL DAY until the shower. My house was filthy! I ran into town to pick up some things for games for the shower and some groceries. I came back, we hung up streamers and then everyone started walking in the door.

Lindsey even came out to help. I bribed her with promises to buy her lunch, of course.
She get's ahead of herself. Here she was putting up streamers but couldn't find the tape. I couldn't resist a picture in her helpless state. I found it in between the cushions by her left foot. (she did this repeatedly until I finally told her to put the tape in her pocket)

Food!

Going to get food!
Steph was super excited to open her presents. And can I just say she got a TON of stuff. There were a lot of people there!
Don't quite know why I was looking behind me. After Steph opened her presents we passed them around so everyone could see them.
She got a lot of cow things (because my family owns a diary farm). It was really funny. If you click on that picture you'll see the cow blanket she has.The girl behind me in green is less than 4 weeks away from her due date. Her baby shower is the one I went to the Saturday of Kristina's meet and greet I wasn't able to make it to.

(What I'm thinking in my head): Look at all these PRESENTS! I want some. That is the cutest little boy outfit I have EVER seen! I want one. I want a baby boy. I want a baby. I WANT ONE (or two)! Let me tell you something. That positive (or demanding) thinking thing does NOT work. I am not pregnant!

This is the cutest diaper cake I've ever seen.

This little boy was so cute. He was dancing to his mom's ring tone "It's a hard knock life, for us" It was so funny (as you can see on everyone's faces).


1/2 of the room (I counted 15 people, not including the babies)
The other half (I counted 11 more, not including myself and the other people up and mingling). There ended up being around 28 people)

Lindsey Lady Lovely Locks and I

We played a candy game and his mommy won a Baby Ruth (for baby girl) and he got very upset because she wouldn't let him open the WHOLE candy bar (in which I thank her for the sake of my newish (is just over 1 1/2 years old still new?) carpet)

I couldn't resist taking this picture. I tried to get him when he was screaming and throwing his head back. I don't know why it was so funny to me.

All in all everything turned out wonderful. I didn't have to worry about food because Steph, her mom and sisters took care of it. My house needed a good deep clean and it got 95% of one. The other 5% will come throughout this week. Jaren FINALLY put up lights outside and they are so bright! I don't think anyone knows how excited I am. I hated how dark it was, no porch light-NOTHING since we got new siding back in January. I'm SO EXCITED!!! I can see!!

Okay, thanks for all of your advice and suggestions of great games to play. I decided less was more and only did a few things. I had a friend, Breanne, give me a great idea. You give out cards to each person with random letters on them. For example, "DLSDI" or "SKEFD" or "MLDAIC" and they make a saying, advice, scentence anything that partains to stephanie and her baby. It turned out to be pretty funny. I let them rearrange the letters to fit their scentnce as long as they only used one word that started with each of the letters. I also bought a small notebook and had it passed around so that people could write advice in it. I was a bit bummed that it didn't make it around to everyone and only 15 people wrote in it.

I also played the candy game, where you take a word about babies/pregnancy and match it with a candy bar. Like, OBGYN= Butterfinger, Baby Girl=Baby Ruth, Baby Diaper=Mounds. It was fun, BUT. For the life of me, I went to 3 of the 6 stores in Rexburg(I barely had time for that today) that I know carry candy bars and I COULD NOT find a Big Hunk OR a 100 Grand that wasn't in a pack of 30 assorted candy bars - that only had 4 100 Grand's in it! Uhg. Frustrating. So instead I bought "Pay Day" and told everyone that when the delivery happens a huge chunk of would be happiness comes out of your... fill in the blank (with Pay Day). Oh! And I couldn't find a Fast Break! I had to buy a 10 pack of mini Fast Breaks. SO. ANNOYING.

But everyone left and everything got picked up and my house is CLEAN! Wahoo! Who wants a shower is next???? (As Jaren get's up to hit me upside the head)

My First Kiss

I read Jay's post and it got me thinking about my first kiss and how awkward it was. I decided I would tell the story.

Come to think of it, I don't really think I've ever told my parents this story. This should be interesting.

Aren't you automatically exonerated for anything you ever did wrong when you get married? That's when I felt okay to tell my dad I snuck out of the house right after I graduated high school to go climb hay stacks with a friend. Really, believe it or not, we climbed a hay stack. He just laughed.

It was 1999 and I was 13, in 8th grade and just starting to get out of my ugly phase. I had this huge crush on a boy named, Cade. I had heard rumors that he liked me too.

Finally, he asked me out(on the phone). It's so funny when I think of what, "going out" was. I think we "went out" for 3 months. We talked on the phone, sat by each other at basketball games, called each other boyfriend and girlfriend and that was about it. I don't even remember writing notes to each other. I have my journal from 1999 to make sure I get the details of the story correct. I was reading this entry and I mentioned how my friends had to tell him to give me hugs. And we were supposed to be "boyfriend", "girlfriend".

One of my best friends at the time was Melissa. She lived about 1/4 of a mile from him out in the country. One Saturday I went to her house and after a while I called him to see if he was home. No answer.

I remember going over to her house another time. We were playing basketball (I believe we were on the same team) and I would yell randomly really loud hoping he would hear me and know that I was right there. Just a house away! So funny.

After a while I decided to call him again to see if he was home; he was, he had just got back from Tri Cities. Melissa came with us, making three of us standing there in the road late at night talking. We were laughing and having a good time when Melissa had to go home - she said she'd be right back. I was a little relieved becuase then I could be alone with him. Oh, and I knew I wanted to kiss him.. but I also knew he has kissed other girls so I was a bit shy - I mean, I didn't know what I was doing!

She left and we talked, a car would drive by and we would jump in the ditch and wait for it to pass. About 10 or 15 minutes after Melissa had left he told me he had to go. I knew it was coming.... I was waiting... then he said this:

"Before I left my mom told me to wear a coat, watch for cars and brush my teeth"

me: (in my head) So he IS going to kiss me!

him: "I guess I'll give you a goodbye kiss."

me: (in my head again) AHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Him as he steps closer to me : hahahahaa, giggle giggle, chuckle chuckle

me: (everything goes on in my head) Whaa? what's so funny?!

Apparently, in my journal I say that he is laughing because he had found out that I had never been kissed. Me, an ameature, him not.

so then I said: "It's my first time"

So he hugged me and gave me a little peck on the lips. I'm going to now quote my 13 year old self from my journal,

"My first kiss. I was so excited. My first kiss. And it was kinda wet. I don't know if he had opened his mouth a little or what." I do remember being grossed out about the wetness. haha

And when I signed my name to end the entry I wrote very big, "My first kiss! Holy CRAPPER!"

Crapper? I don't remember using that word. But I am by no means surprised.

So there it is. My first kiss. Is 13 too young to you? Jaren says yes. I'll just say that was the only one from that boy. We "broke up" not too long after. My lips must have been too dry.

My ugly phase (from age 5-12). The summer before 8th grade when my hair was long and scraggly and I tried to curl my bangs. Lindsey (sister) is in the blue Hiawatha (grade school) shirt, the little girl in the red USA shirt is my cousin Roxanne who is 19 and married now, and the purple shirt is Chantile, my cousin who I grew up doing things with every summer, who is 22.
Still not the cutest thing, but my hair looks much better! This is Chantile and I in our sand box in my back yard back in Washington. We would dig huge holes, fill them with water and then sit in them, or in this case just stick our legs in them.
Probably a bit better of a picture of my 13 year old self. With Lindsey, Roxanne and Chantile again. I really hope every one can figure out which one is me in all of these pictures.

Thanks for the pictures Mom!

Also, scroll down to, "Will You Be There?" to let me know if you are going to be at the dinner in one week from today, the 21st at 7 p.m. at Sampans in or at? the South Towne Mall in Sandy. And vote on the poll! Thanks bundles.

Pink and Say

My Child Language and Lit class has been just a bunch of busy work for me this semester. I learn a few new things every once in a while and I have some interesting discussions during class.

Every week we take a quiz, write down a quote from the chapter, ask a question, then do research to find two sources with answers. (busy work)

Every Thursday we bring a childrens book to class and read it to a group of three other people. I usually forget to bring a book and luckily someone brings two and I get one of theirs or I run to the library at 7:40 a.m. before my 7:45 a.m. class.

This week's book was a stage 7 book which is for ages 5-7. We were supposed to bring a historical biography of some sort.

Tuesday was Labor day and so my teach had a special book to read to us.

I started this class not really caring too much about childrens books. I mean, I knew I was going to read to my kids. I just don't remember any favorites (besides R.L. Stein when I was in Elementary School) from my childhood like so many others in this class do.

But I have seen some pretty amazing books. If anyone ever wants a list, I'll gladly give you a list of some really good ones.

The story she read was, "Pink and Say" by Patricia Polacco

I don't want to give all the details, because I think you should read it. I've never had a book meant for 10 year olds move me like this one did. It's beautiful. A true story and written by a descendant of the main character. I'm definitely buying this book for my library. I'll tell you what it's basically about.

During the Civil war, Sheldon Curtis (Say) tries to escape his unit and is wounded. Pinkus Aylee, (Pink) a slave from Georgia finds him and takes him home where he and his mom take care of him and nurse him back to health. While there, Say realizes why Pink wants to fight this war so badly; to free him from this disease(slavery). Say decides to face his fears, he doesn't want to fight anymore, and help his friend Pink. During the story Say tells Pink and his mom that he shook Abraham Lincoln's hand. Say tells Pink to shake his hand so he can say that he, "Shook the hand of the hand that shook President Lincoln's hand". It's amazing to think of a 11-15 year old boy going through these things these boys are going through. I'm going to end there because I really can't spoil the ending.

Just know it's beautiful. Read it. Buy it and have your children read it. Read it to your kids. I'm going to buy it and read it to my husband :)

Have any of you read this? If so, what did you think? Don't spoil the ending for those who haven't read it.

p.s. - don't forget to let me know if your coming to Dinner Friday night the 21st at 7:00 at Sampans in the South Towne mall in the post below.

Will You Be There?

Aren't in this picture?

Weren't there last time?

You missed out, my friend.

Never fear, I'm coming again and hoping some of my new friends will want to dine with me for either a second or first time.

You may have noticed the poll on my sidebar that's been there for a few weeks asking if you would like to have dinner again.

Since there are 41 votes and I voted twice(I think) that makes 39 voters.

I'm pretty surprised only 4 people thought I was weird. I wonder what these people's version of "normal" is? It's really a good thing I don't blog about every mood swing I have.. that number would go right on up.

14 people say, Yes! I would LOVE to have dinner with you! But only 7 of those say they can make it the weekend of the 21st, which is the weekend I will be down. Since I'm two of those votes, that makes 5 people. The more the merrier!

6 people said they weren't there last time, but they want to be this time. Did those same 6 people vote for the weekend? Man. I should have only made it possible to click one bubble.

Please leave a comment letting me know if your coming or not. Or if you think you can come. I had so much fun last time. I think when I come down I'll set aside a night/day/morning for food and those who can make it can come.

For those who live in Antarctica, you stink! You should live closer to the nexus of the universe.

For those of you who need a ride; I'll only go as far as San Diego to pick you up, so sorry Antarctica... you lose again!

For those of you who can't afford the gas, you MUST have voted when the poll first opened and now gas has gone way down. Want to change your vote?

For those of you not willing to make the trip for me (1 person), you must either
a. live in Antarctica
b. only visited my blog once, and that was to sabotage my voting thinger
c. not read my post about self esteem issues and paranoia at night when I'm by myself
d. were one of the 4 (or all 4??) who said I was weird
e. all of the above

We have 3 people who want Dennys (their booths are huge) and 5 who say a nice (meaning more than 8 bucks a plate) restaurant. I'm thinking it might be better if I just pick a place... maybe no poll. But I will take thoughts and discussions and I'm up for suggestions. I'm thinking Sampans in the South Town Mall; they take reservations and Kristina says they are pretty good. Dinner would probably be a little later 7 or 8. I do have to drive 3 1/2 hours. So, let me know what you think!

And for that one anonymous (Mary) person who had yucky chicken at Carinos. I'm sorry, better luck next time. Maybe this time you wont order a nasty mushroom brown saucy monster. :)

One other thing. Wendyburd is having a sweet giveaway for her 100th post. Check it out, it's pretty fantabulous.

Oopse, Forgot!

If only I had a super snazzy camera would this picture turn out NOT blurry. Sorry, my friends. I'm workin on it. Maybe next year sometime after I've saved up for 10 months.

This should have been with the last post but me being the tired person I am every time I post at night, forgot.

But, hey! This gives me something to blog about today. This blogging every day for November thing is getting really tiring. Can't say I'll do the same for December.

Today I only had 2 things due, and I finished them. I don't have anything due tomorrow! But, I do have some stuff I need done by Thursday and I'm considering getting them done today with my time. That would be the smart thing to do, right? But what kind of procrastinator would I be if I actually got something done BEFORE the last minute?

One that might be trying to change her ways... maybe.

Tomorrow I'm going to post about how I'm going to be coming to Utah on the 21st and about how I'm pretty sure I'll be there in time for dinner Friday night and whoever wants to come can come. But.... I'll save that for tomorrow :)

Baby Shower Invites

November 1st I got together with Stephanie to work on her baby shower invitations. Nathan (the husband - my brother) picked out the paper. Surprisingly, he did a very good job at matching.

An eye for the crafty, Nathan, eh? :)

I looked up all sorts of different ways to word an invitation and I settled on what you'll see below. (had to scratch out some vital information that only those VIP's invited get to see)

Stephanie seemed a little bit overwhelmed with 40 invitations to do!

Luckily they started to crank on out rather quickly once we got the hang of it.

We worked on them for a few hours then I took the rest home and worked on them the next night. (do you sense a recurring theme in some of these pictures? Besides my Indian couches.. I always have to have a blanket on me. This one in particular was made by my grandma and given to me as a gift when I graduated from High School)

The end product!! I'm so very proud. I knew I wanted to make the invites because I loved the way one of my friends turned out. It took quite a bit of time but in the end, for 40 invites it ended up being less than 20 bucks. Not so bad, eh?

I hope you can all see the super cute giraffe stamp we used. I made sure to buy an extra (just in case I need to use it someday)

I'll let everyone know how the shower goes. Thanks for your great ideas!

Happy Dance

I've posted this before. But it was long ago and not many looked at my blog then. I posted it as my happy dance for completing one more semester and going on a vacation.

Well... because it's late, I'm tired and I'm not giving up on napblabomothingamiger, I'm posting this video worth millions of words.

Since I posted about the little sis and I in the post below I thought it would be fitting to post this video of us being foot lose and fancy free.

Please, turn on your sound. It's better that way. :) Enjoy!



Oh, I giggle everytime

A Wordy Post

So I've been trying to think of what to post today.

The story of how Jaren asked for my number? No... not finished yet.

The baby shower invitations I made? No, I'll save that for tomorrow.

Then I read Jo's post about words and thought I would just talk. Whether you listen or not, it's okay.

Today I went to Idaho Falls to get some shopping done and I took my sister, Lindsey with me. I know a few things will happen whenever I am with her.

I'll scream.

I'll laugh.

I'll hit her (not hard) because she wouldn't stop touching me.

I'll get exasperated

I'll be very happy even though moments before I was frustrated

I love spending time with her. It's never boring. She is so funny and fun to be around. I often wonder what it would be like to have me for an older sister. I try to listen, but I usually want to fix her problems. It's always been that way. When we were younger and we were in elementary school I was very very protective. I was in 6th grade and she was in 3rd. There was a girl that was very mean to her and she would come home crying. I would get SO mad I wrote this girl a litter threatening her and had lindsey give it to her. I wish I could see what that letter said. I also remember coming outside when I would see neighbor kids being mean to her. I would yell at them and threaten them and tell them that if they didn't leave her alone I'd beat them up. I was a scrony little girl, too. But it worked. She would get so mad at me for doing that. Because then, you know, they would tell her she couldn't deal with her own problems. But I couldn't HELP myself.

Then I remember the times that I was mean to her so she would leave me and my friends alone. She would cry and I felt horrible. I would try to apologize and she would scream at me that she didn't care. That happened often.

It took us a LONG time to become really good friends. She used to be so annoying and drive me crazy. It wasn't until I was in high school and we were the last two kids at home that we started to get along a bit better. I was a senior when she was a freshman. Even then I didn't take her with me to parties and activities - I regret that.

I went to college and we hardly talked. My dad would get upset at both of us for not calling and talking to each other, but what did we have to talk about? We were living two different lives and were two completely separate people. And we would both give each other a hard time for not calling the other, but we were both guilty.

Three years later she graduated and came here to Rexburg to school. I was so excited. I was over at her apartment almost every day and we were exercising and hanging out. It was a lot of fun. I felt like I was getting to know her a lot better. We were building a friendship. She didn't stay for the summer semester, she went to Oregon and Boise. I didn't realize then how much I had come to depend on her company.

I would cry (birth control really was making me SUPER emotional) because I was lonley. I felt like I had lost my only friend. I don't think she realizes how much I missed her. She came back in July and I have been so happy to have her back.

As much as we get on each others nerves I don't think either of us would trade the other for another. I hope she will always be able to come to me with anything, knowing I am free of judgment. I need to learn to shut my trap and just listen. I am not looking forward to the day when she leaves, which is why I want her to marry a local farmer so she can't leave! (like I can't :) It would be nice to have babies together and have our kids grow up with each other.

I started this post not knowing what to talk about, but I see I just wanted to talk about my only sister (I have 3 sister in laws that I think are great). I love her and am really enjoying the memories we are building.

Mommies that have little girls who fight and seem to hate each other... don't worry, they will grow up and love each other and come to appreciate each other. We are living proof.

This was taken a few weeks ago on Lindsey's 20th birthday. I can't believe she's 20! It's weird to think that when I turned 20 I was in Park City and drove 4 hours home on my birthday because I wanted to be with Jaren. And that's when I thought I didn't like him :) (that story will come in time)

I made these. I tried to take Vicki's cupcake idea (you'll have to go to that link and watch the amazing slide show of her daughter's birthday to see the cupcakes I'm talking about), but instead of making lady bugs I just cut out letters. I didn't have enough cupcakes to spell out, "Happy Birthday Lindsey!" so it turned out, "Lindsey Is 20!" With a swirly. I am pretty sure they were YUMMY (oh wait.. i might have had one while frosting them. Might have. So I might know.)

Black Bean Brownie Results!

Believe it or not the brownies actually looked like brownies in the morning.

They smelt like them, but the consistency was a little different.

They were a little more sticky and a lot more smooth (is that the correct way to say that?)


I held true and didn't try any until my class did.

Everyone seemed a bit reluctant but tried them anyway.

I got a few different reactions:

"I can taste the beans!"

"Mmm, these taste good."

"There's a funky aftertaste"

"I just can't do it!"

I tried them and I was pleasantly surprised. They didn't taste so bad! Mind you, they aren't the yummy sugary, fatty, oily, chocolate chipy infested yummy brownies we all know and love. But for the main ingredient being black beans they were really good. I personally could only taste the black beans if I thought about it and tried to taste them. And I have really good taste buds. :)

Jaren tried them and liked them. I think the rest will get eaten. Maybe I'll make them someday. I kind of wish I didn't let them know the recipe before they tried it. I would love to see someone try them thinking they were normal brownies.

So. I leave you with this: Here is the recipe. Make it if you wish. BUT, please feed them to someone and don't tell them what they are made out of and see if they can tell the difference. Then let me know!

Black-Bean Brownies

Makes 21 servings (each serving is three 1" squares)

Ingredients
1 can black beans (13–15 ounces), rinsed well
4 eggs
1 cup sugar substitute
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
Chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions
Spray an 8" x 8" brownie pan with nonstick cooking spray. Blend all ingredients (except nuts) in a blender until smooth. Transfer the batter into a mixing bowl and fold in nuts (if desired). Then, pour the batter into the prepared brownie pan. Bake at 350°F for approx 30 minutes, until set in middle. Enjoy!

Nutritional information
52 calories
3 g total fat (1 g sat)
40 mg cholesterol
2 g protein
1 g fiber
110 mg sodium

Black Bean Brownies!

Does this look yummy to you?

I have a 45 minute nutrition presentation tomorrow in one of my classes.

I decided it might be fun to try this new "healthy" brownie recipe I found.

That silly South Beach Diet.

Thinking up new ways to desecrate perfectly good food.

Obviously I made it anyway.

No, I didn't try the batter... I am too nervous.

Instead I decided to make it. Feed it to my class and watch their reactions.

I had to poke it with a fork to make sure it was done.

It rose so much it looks like a CAKE!

It does smell good, though.

I'll let everyone know how it tastes tomorrow after I make sure it doesn't make anyone throw up.

p.s. I woke up this morning at 6 and realized that because I didn't sleep well and I was still feeling yucky I wasn't going to make it to my 7:45 class. I e mailed my teacher and turned in the assignment due. I went back to sleep and slept till 8. I woke up fully intending to go to my 10:15 class and even got ready. I felt quite a bit better than yesterday but still not 100%. When it finally came time to go - I decided I'd rather not. So I didn't. And let me say, I just HAPPENED to land on the day the teach didn't take attendance or make us take a quiz. YES! It was meant to be. I am feeling a lot better than yesterday, but am now really tired and completely stuffed up. I went to bed at 8:30 last night and it's almost 10 now and right after this I'm going to bed! But I actually have to wake up at 6 tomorrow and can't go back to sleep. Bummer. I really enjoyed (not) my 12 hours of tossing and turning last night. Hopefully I will actually SLEEP tonight. I'll take my 8 hours with a smile. Goodnight! p.s.s. Thanks for everyone's concern :) Made me feel all special.

When I Am Sick

My face looks a lot like thisI am always looking for theseI am found in the fetal position often.There's a reason I married someone 6 feet tall.

It is officially the only time in my existence when I don't crave this

I always want to do this

I don't want to leave my house

If only this really was my home. Then I might not want to leave even when I was healthy.

Just in case you don't know yet - I have a cold. I hate it. I can't stand the way your body feels like it has no muscles. How when you try to get up and move it hurts. How I am feeling hungry but don't want any food. None of it tastes good or looks good.

Here is my very stern letter to the cold

Dear Cold,

Why did you decide to infect me while I am in school? How inconsiderate of you! I have a hard enough time making myself study while in good health, you think I am going to get to classes and study when I feel like a puddle of flesh? No, Cold. No. Now, I'd appreciate it if you would make this a quickie and get up on out of here sometime like.. tomorrow. Yeah, that would be nice.

I hate every bit of your black soul,

Whitney

I hope it get's this letter soon.