How I'm feeling lately...

Seriously

Every time I log onto Facebook I see at least one picture of a ring and newly engaged couple or of somebody telling the world they are pregnant! Seriously though...I see at minimum of one new announcement every day. Oofta...I guess I'm too busy working my life away to do either of those things...but then again it would mean I'm not all that awesome either because I'm working all the time...whatevs.

Odds and Ends

So I seem to blog a lot all at once...and then none at all. So much for trying to be consistent, sometimes I fail, fail hard at life (blogging life that is!). I'm not sure if many people even give a hoot whether I blog or not, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one reading it on a regular basis :)

Anyway, here is a recap of the past couple of weeks in my oh-so-exciting life (NOT)...

Dislocated: The reason I got distracted from blogging is work...mainly, I got hurt at work. Everyone knows that where I work has hazardous conditions, what with children trying to land a punch to my face, run away from us outside, or attempting to urinate on us in the safety room. But a couple Sundays ago, one kid got me good and I ended up in the ER. I've always worried about my knee (I tore my meniscus last summer) but never told the children because they will take advantage of any sign of weakness in the staff and try to exploit it. I was dealing with an unruly child who was wielding a broom this particular morning and he ended up kicking me in the knee and dislocating it on the spot. I heard some grinding in my knee...and then POP! Out it went. I went down like a ton of bricks. Thankfully my lovely coworkers grabbed the unruly child and hauled him away, while the other children surrounded me, freaking out and wondering if I was okay (maybe they have souls after all?!?).  I hobbled over to a couch and immediately started icing it after someone called the nurse. I had to stay at work until a replacement was able to come in and take my spot, and I was in so much pain! It started swelling up right away, which is never good for me and my crappy knees. Once my replacement arrived, I drove myself to the ER (as no one was available to transport me there) and limped into the ER. They took an X-ray and found that my hairline fracture in my patella (from ANOTHER previous injury) had gotten worse and that's what the grinding noise was. They did not do an MRI because those are expensive and workman's comp (yay! 2 workman's comp claims in the past year!) refuses to pay for them unless your leg is bent the wrong way or dangling like a limp noodle.

seriously, two knee injuries in one year, I'm awesome!

swollen

My knee has gotten better in the past couple of weeks, thanks to my physical therapist and not having to go hands at work. I do still think its not 100%, but I have a feeling it won't ever be and I'll probably need a knee replacement by the time I'm 28!

Officially an Alum: On a more upbeat note...my ISU license plates came in! They were part of my graduation gift from my parents, and I think they had to swallow some of their pride when they bought them as they are both Hawkeye fans (but I think I'm slowly wearing down my dad!). 

Go State!

My mom says I'm no longer allowed to speed because personalized plates will attract the po-po  more than regular license plates...riiiight. 

Getting Organized: I'll be moving to a new apartment in a couple weeks and could not be more excited (hello dishwasher! hello washer and dryer in the apartment!).  I've been slowly and surely going through closets, books, desks, cupboards, etc. in order to get ready for the move by donating and throwing things out. One project I'm going to tackle to today is the organization of all my paperwork. For the past couple of years all my bills, medical info, job resumes and certifications, insurance claims... have all been in a closet loosely piled and gathering dust. I'm not really sure how I haven't lost anything to be honest. So I went to Target and found these cute file folders and expanding folder that will help me get everything organized and in one place, plus making sure nothing gets lost in the move!

I love Target and all their adorable stuff!

Growing up... I guess: While I was making a run to Goodwill to drop off stuff I wanted to donate, I decided to stop in and look around. Depending on the day, Goodwill can have really cool, unique stuff...or it can be full of junk. I got lucky and found these neat looking ceramic plates, and they were an awesome deal! 4 plates and 3 three bowls for $5! 

The main reason I picked them up is I'm trying to transition from my college type plastic plates/bowls/cups and move toward a more adult set of dishes and glasses. Although I'm definitely keeping my giant plastic mug from Mug Night...too many memories to throw away!

Blind as a bat: I went to the eye doctor this morning to have my normal eye exam and pick up more contacts. Today I found out that my left eye has almost normal vision, but my right eye...I'm one step away from being legally blind (I can still colors and shapes, but trying to distinguish finer details is almost impossible)! Both eyes have changed prescriptions in the past couple years, the left for the better and the right for the worse...how does that even happen?!? The doctor also dilated my eyes (which is why I'm typing this in my dark bedroom with the lights off...) but then forgot to give me the blinders for outside...and I didn't have my sunglasses in my purse. I felt like a vampire who had just been exposed to the light for the first time...I immediately covered my eyes and doubled over, people probably thought I was possessed or something. The lady said it would be fine to drive home but I had a hard time keeping my eyes open enough to keep them on the road! I was desperate for some relief so at a stop sign, I looked in the glove box and thankfully my dad, being the predictable man he is (like father, like daughter) had left a pair of his old sunglasses in there! Hallelujah...thank you Dave!!! I was able to finish the drive home without causing any accidents, all while sporting some sweet man shades :)

So there you have it...all of the fun and exciting things that have been going on in my life in the past couple of weeks!

Zac Brown Band and John Denver

I had three (three!!!) straight days off from work so I did some cleaning and crafting around my apartment with my free time. I went to Hobby Lobby a while back and picked up some canvases and paint and did this project:

I used some masking tape to make the design and put of few coats of navy paint on the canvas. After the paint was dry I removed the masking tape. I did this to three other canvases and hung them in a line above my couch. However on two of the canvases, I didn't wait long enough for the paint to dry and ended up with paint bleed on some of the white areas of the canvas. I lived with it for a while, until walking by them every day and seeing the imperfect lines began to drive me nuts (OCD much?).

So I set out to think of something new to do with the two canvases that were no longer "perfect" in my eyes. I decided that I would paint over the while lines with the remaining navy paint I had leftover. I then found some scrapbook stickers and painted them a caramel/tan color. I had been bouncing around some quotes in my head for the solid color canvases and landed on "country" theme:

 'Drive until the city lights dissolve into a country sky' is from the Zac Brown Band song "Free"

'Take me home country roads' is John Denver's "Country Roads"

And here's the final product with the mixture of both types of canvases:

I know they aren't straight and it will get fixed very shortly as my OCD will not allow this kind of slant!

I made this!!! Without burning the place down!!!

Last night I woke up sweating like a pig for no apparent reason. So I stumbled around to turn on the fan and tried to go back to bed. About twenty minutes later I was still sweating like a whore in church on Sunday, so I caved and turned on the AC. This morning while making my coffee I realized why I was so dang hot through the night...I had left the oven on from night before. The whole night! I literally do not know how I managed to get lucky enough to not burn down the whole apartment complex! Which brings me to the current post:

I decided to try my hand at cooking again tonight, but with the stove this time. Except tonight I utilized Siri on my phone to remind to turn the stove off once I was done...technology is wonderful, I tell ya! But anyway this recipe (found here via Pinterest) is what I landed on for dinner tonight.

 Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

I altered my recipe a bit based on what I like compared to the original

• 1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
• 1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (or other leftover meat, like shredded pork or beef)
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 red or green pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup yellow or white corn
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I use a combination of Monterrey jack and sharp cheddar)
• Sour cream (optional) 
• burrito size tortillas

Combine all ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. prinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. (Optional: I like to dollop little bits of sour cream over the cheese before arranging chicken and rice mixture down the center – it makes the wraps delightfully creamy.) Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open and slightly flatten the wraps with the palm of your hand. Spray seam-side of the wrap lightly with cooking spray.

Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange wraps, seam-side down, in pan or griddle and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Cooking them seam-side down first helps seal the long edge so they don’t fall apart. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve warm.  

The recipe doesn't call for this, but I also added a bit of queso in the middle of the tortilla before putting it in the skillet. Another addition I think I'll try with the leftovers is to dip in it some salsa that I have around. Sounds yummy to me!  

These were super easy to make (and that's saying something coming from the non-cook that I am!) and only took about 10 minutes of prep work and 2 minutes of actual cook time. So tasty!

• 
  I found this at Hobby Lobby today and thought it was appropriate!

   

 

Obsessed

It's no secret that girls love shoes. I love shoes too, but I specifically love tennis shoes! I prefer comfort over style when it comes to my shoes, so you won't see me wearing heels very often, only when I'm forced to! Lately I've been a shopping spree when it comes to tennis shoes. Where I work is pretty hard on my shoes (kids pick at them, they've had blood, vomit, spit and other bodily fluids wiped on them) so I dedicated my old running shoes exclusively to work and set out to find a new pair of shoes to work out in.

nasty looking work shoes

I searched Nike.com for a pair that I liked for a while but never found any I really wanted in the Free style (I love the Free line, it doesn't feel like the shoe is weighing you down while you run/work out). Then Nike came out with the new version of Free's and I fell in love with the color of these:

These took while to get used as they were slimmer than the previous version of Free's, still working on breaking them in to mold to my feet.

At the same time I was perusing the Nike website, I stumbled upon these for only $45! How could I turn them down?!? I don't use these for working out, just for wearing around...

The kids like these shoes because they say I have "swag" when I wear them!

Since I wasn't completely happy with the Free's above and had such good luck with my work shoes, I started looking at the clearance section for the old version of the shoe and I found these... for $50! It pays to shop the sales!

I use these for running, no breaking in required! I love, love, love them!

The next pair of shoes I stumbled upon while out shopping and just happened to have a gift card to the store, funny how life wants me to have 80 pairs of tennis shoes.

I use these for all other workouts besides running (lifting, biking, etc.)

The next pair of shoes I don't wear for working out, but they are cute and comfy with jeans and I wear them all the time in the fall and spring since I've bought them!

Apparently in my past life I was a gym teacher or something, because I need to have enough pairs of tennis shoes for every day of the week! I've never really tried any other brand of shoes for running because I've had such good luck with the Nike's. Anybody else love and have an obsession with gym shoes?

Booked!

...my flight to DC that is! Dan and I made a plan to meet up in the nation's capital over Labor Day and spend the long weekend together. I'm excited about it already, but a little nervous about flying by myself for the very first time. It doesn't help either that on the flight back, I only have 34 minutes between flights! It should be a fun weekend though, catching up and getting to do some sightseeing together. Only 87 more days!