goodbye little friend

   Today marks a sad, sad day in my little apartment.

   The moment occurred a few months back when I was neck deep in finals week stress and was thisclose to drowning my sorrows in too many chocolate chip banana bread muffins and iced coffees. One sunny morning, I whipped open my drapes to find this peaceful scene:

   A baby bunny! Outside my window! Nibbling on pieces of new grass and hopping hither and thither. I literally watched it for fifteen minutes, a ridiculous yet ecstatic smile plastered on my weary face. I took probably 29 pictures of it from various angles trying to capture the moment forever in case my little visitor was just stopping by for a quick hello.

   But alas! I soon found that he set up house underneath this big pine tree right outside my window. Thus I got the pleasure of seeing my new bestie every single day!

   Not only that, but I also discovered he had a sibling! Another baby bunny! TWO BABY BUNNIES.

   I was on Cloud Nine. I literally looked forward to the next morning so I could open up my drapes and greet my cute little pals. They slowly got bigger and my lawn slowly got…dead-er…so the visits became less frequent, but they still appeared every now and then I’m sure just to improve my day.

   Well, it was awesome while it lasted. 

   As I left my driveway on my bike to head to work this morning, I saw my little friend lying motionless on the side of the road.

   No more bunny visits for me. I hope he finds a nice, green yard to nibble in bunny heaven. Thank you for improving my mood, calming me down, and keeping me company during the past few months. 

Presenting: Reasons I Choose Country Music

   Before I moved to Montana, I did not listen to country music. Sometimes my grandpa would play some Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash but that was the extent of my exposure. I stuck to the traditional 4^th grade girl genres such as Aaron Carter and Spice Girls. Yes, I do still have all the songs memorized.

   After the big move, my lifestyle made a 180 degree change. My house got smaller, my yard got bigger, my dad bought a cowboy hat, we got a cat, and my parents preset the radios in our cars to country music stations.

   It was hard for me to get used to. I wasn’t keen on slow songs that made you tear up for no reason, or fast-paced songs that made you feel like you were in the middle of some rowdy bluegrass festival. Over time I got used to the tempo and subject matter, even memorizing a few lines and choruses here and there.

   Looking back, I wholly appreciate my parents’ decision to move us up to Big Sky Country. Thanks to them I have been able to stay away from the following “popular songs”:

1.     “Scream” by Usher

Lines from the song:

“Getting’ drunk off the thought of you naked”
“Now relax and get on your back”
“Hope you’re ready to go all night”

   Kids sing this song. Little eleven year old girls are jamming out to this song, singing about some guy watching a girl in a club and fantasizing about “making her scream” “all night” “on her back”. Whaa??

2.     “Starships” by Nicki Minaj

Lyrics:

“So give me more, more, ‘til I can’t stand”
“I’ma blow all my money and don’t give two sh*ts”
“We’re higher than a motherf***er”
“But f*** who you want, and f*** who you like”

   So basically Nicki is telling us it’s socially acceptable to get so drunk that you can’t stand up, spend all your money and not care about it, get high, and sleep with anyone and everyone you want. Oh, and she throws in some attractive “sentence enhancers” in basically every line. Go ahead, kids! Listen to this song! It is #11 on this week’s Top 40 chart so obviously it’s awesome. Hopefully our youngins take some life tips from this great piece of artistry.

3.     “Whistle” by Flo Rida

Some lines:

“And I’m betting you like girls that give love to girls”
“Cause I love it how you drop it, drop it, drop it, on me”
And the most important and repeated line: “Can you blow my whistle baby…put your lips together and you come real close”

   Um. I highly doubt there are people listening to this song who really think he’s talking about a whistle. He is not talking about a whistle. He sang an entire song about a woman doing a particular deed AND it’s on American Top 40! What is wrong with this world?! It’s not a whistle, people! Ugh this song just gives me the creeps.

Moving on to my preferred genre...

4.     “Kissed You Good Night” by Gloriana

Lyrics:

“And I kissed you goodnight”
“Praying that you wouldn’t go”
“Half scared to death can’t catch my breath, aren’t these the moments we live for”

   Awww! Such a cute song. This is romantic movie material, almost The Notebook-esque. Notice there are no vulgar words OR insinuated nasty deeds – how strange! This song is #2 on Bob Kinglsey’s Country Countdown by the way.

5.     “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” by the Eli Young Band

Some lines:

“Keep on dreamin’, even if it breaks your heart”
“Gotta keep believin’ if you wanna know for sure”
“I can hear the ringin’ of a beat up ol’ guitar”

   A song that actually offers valid advice?! Who woulda thunk.

   So this is why I listen to country music. And why my children and their children and even their children will listen to country music. Usher, Nicki Minaj, and Flo Rida can all run in traffic.

Thursday Thoughts I

   Linking up with Sar from (my daily read) [life of love] for my FIRST EDITION of Thursday Thoughts! That was a complicated sentence.

ONE

   I am addicted to House Hunters. I watch it pretty regularly but have been caught up in the Olympics lately so I’ve been having withdrawals. Luckily I caught an episode last night and to my extreme amazement it was based in my town! That never happens! I took the liberty of notifying the other five people that were currently in proximity (all male) and for some reason they didn’t quite grasp why I was so excited.

TWO

   All week long I was looking forward to attending the annual Rockin’ the Rivers weekend-long concert but just last night learned you have to purchase a day pass to go. I was so sad! I can barely afford groceries let alone a $40 fun-day. L I guess I’ll just go to a river nearby and bring some crappy rock CDs and create the moment for myself…for free.

THREE

   I have been spoiled this week because my roommate is currently housesitting for a guy who raises French Brittany bird dogs and one of them had a litter of puppies about a month ago! So this is what I’ve gotten to cuddle with twice this week:

FOUR

   My job has been killing me this week. Over seven hours in front of a computer in a basement can really bring you down. Luckily I’m of age and this is now appropriate after a long, hard day at work:

FIVE

   I’m really looking forward to my 3-day weekend! Here’s to hoping it’s filled with sunshine, Arnold Palmers, friends, love, and more puppy cuddle sessions!

AND it's edible.

   I actually cooked myself a meal last night. The best part about it was that I enjoyed eating it which never happens.

   Inspired by Paigeity's post Living on the Cheap: Food, I high tailed it to the grocery store over the weekend to get some supplies. I was feeling bad about the fact that I can’t even feed myself an adequate meal on accounta’ my diagnosis of ESL (Extreme Summer Laziness). Once there, I suffered from “can’t decide what to make”itis and ended up buying an assortment of random foodstuffs. You can never go wrong with chicken breasts though! Unless you’re a vegetarian. Or the word “breast” freaks you out.

   So yesterday I was determined to make myself dinner with the following ingredients: raw quinoa, chicken breasts, assorted raw veggies, and cheese. Believe me when I tell you it turned out AMAZING. And it’s so easy! And relatively affordable! And makes multiple meals worth of deliciousness. So basically, you just have to give this one a try.

   For starters, I recommend buying thinly sliced pieces of chicken breast from the meat department. Frozen chicken is a) nasty and b) easily freezer burnt which makes it even nastier. Take the raw chicken and portion it out into little baggies, write the date on the bags, and stick them in the freezer for easy meal-sized amounts.

   So yesterday morning, I pulled one of my baggies of chicken out of the freezer (three strips about the size of a small banana) and dumped some Newman’s Own Light Balsamic vinaigrette into it to marinade during the day. The baggy went back into the fridge and sat for about 9 hours until I got off work.

   The first thing I did to start cooking was chop up my veggies. I used about 2/3 of a green bell pepper, ½ a yellow onion, one garlic clove, and about fifteen mini carrots. Pour in about 2 tbsp olive or canola oil into a fry pan and toss in your onions and minced garlic on medium heat.

   Meanwhile, rinse 1 cup of quinoa. I learned that quinoa is really fatty and can easily spoil so grocery stores buy the kind that has been coated with some special preservative to keep it from going bad. It’s not necessarily bad for you to consume but alters how it cooks and tastes. To rinse it, just put the quinoa in a bowl and cover with water, allowing to sit for about five minutes. The quinoa will absorb most of the water but that’s ok.

   Drain the remaining water from the quinoa and put into a medium saucepan along with 2 cups of chicken broth. Bring to a boil then back down to a simmer, letting sit for about 12 minutes. You should be using a tightly fitting lid.

   Your onions should be clear by now (signaling they’re done). Time for the chicken! Place the strips (you can make them whatever size you want now that they’re thawed – I cut mine all in half hotdog-wise) evenly in the pan with the garlic and onions. Since mine were fairly thin they didn’t take too long to cook through, probably about 8 minutes.

   Remember to keep stirring your quinoa! Make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom of the pan.

   Take the chicken out of the fry pan and throw in your carrot and pepper morsels. Salt, pepper, and BAM! it for flavor and let sit for a bit until the veggies are to your desired softness. Throw the chicken back in to absorb the flavor and to guarantee there’s no pink in the middle.

   The quinoa should be done now so take it off the heat and give it a good stir. You’ll want it hot for your meal, though, so keep the lid on.

   Once your veggies and meat are done, scoop some quinoa into a bowl and top it with your delicious chicken mixture. Sprinkle some cheese (I used Mexican blend because it’s all I had, but I’m sure any cheese would work just fine) on top, give it a stir, and voila! A delicious and healthy meal!

Proof:

Ingredients:

3 medium sized strips of chicken breast

Some sort of balsamic vinaigrette for the marinade

2/3 green bell pepper

½ onion

1 garlic clove

15 mini carrots

Olive or canola oil

1 cup raw quinoa (can find at most grocery stores in the bulk bins)

2 cups chicken broth

Some sort of shredded cheese

Sources:

 Chicken with Quinoa and Veggies

that's not my name.

   I remembered this really humorous story the other day that characterizes my childhood. I went back and forth deciding whether or not it would be Blog Worthy (aka: funny to anyone other than myself) and I have deemed it appropriate.

   When my family lived in Utah, my parents owned their own business. They had all sorts of products for biking, camping, and just outdoor hobbies in general. Because they were a smaller company, my parents turned to local job-seekers to sew the products from home instead of staffing. There was a little Asian woman that worked for them for quite a while (forgive me for not remembering her name) so my mom would haul my sister and I as well as the product to be sewed out to this woman’s house once in a while. I can vaguely remember what the house looks like, but I do remember she had two kids that were around my age.

   They all spoke in very broken English so, as a kid, I didn’t communicate with her kids that much. I’d smile and say “hi” and then they would say something in return but I couldn’t understand it so I’d just keep smiling. In retrospect, those were probably my first experiences with other ethnicities. Well it was Salt Lake City in the 90’s, give me a break.

   One day, the son handed my mom an invitation to his birthday party. He was a bit older than me so it was probably his 10^th or something. My mom asked my sister and I if we wanted to go and we whined the whole way home in the car about how we couldn’t understand them and their food smelled weird. My mom felt bad so she decided to at least get him a gift.

   The next time we took a delivery to their house, my mom presented the birthday boy with a big box. On top of the gift was a card.

   Quick break here. I don’t know about you all, but if you don’t know someone’s name or how to spell it, you probably refrain from writing anything on the envelope other than “Happy Birthday!”, right? I mean, I’d kind of rather just not have someone attempt to guess my name and how it’s spelled than butcher it. Is that weird? Well anyway…

   So my mom hands the kid his present and he has this weird look on his face. He looks up at my mom, almost pitifully, and simply says “my name is not knee”.

   …………………?

   Apparently my mom asked someone, or maybe just overheard, what the son’s name was. Even though the family is very obviously Asian and even though it’s pretty unusual to name your child after a part of the human anatomy, my mom still decided it was a good idea to write “To: Knee” on this kid’s birthday card.

   Turns out his name was “Ng”, which in my mom’s defense was indeed pronounced “Knee”. Ng? Really? It’s like their just asking for non-Asian people to be tormented.

   I will never forget that look on “Knee” ‘s face or the way my mom just kind of laughed and joked it off as if it wasn’t extremely embarrassing. For all of us.

   Basically I’ve learned to just stick with the ol’ “Happy Birthday!”. Better safe than sorry.

 

Explains a lot about me, don’t it.