Q&A

Yet another classic, I swiped it from facebook post. Except I changed most of the answers. Sorry for the punctuation and un-capitalized words. Also, I deleted some questions that I found unnecessary which is why there is a number or two missing. 

so the "Cue & A" is my favorite part of www.playbill.com. i can only dream of one day having a real cue & a, but i digress...

1. What is your best friends name?
i don't think i necessarily have a "best friend" i do use this phrase from time to time, but only because it makes it easier in the explanation of my relationship with someone. i love a lot of people

3. What are you listening to right now?
nada. if i could listen to anything it would be Adele. i just love her. [Go purchase her new album--AMAZING!]

4. If you were a crayon what color would you be?
pink. i know you're surprised.

5. Where are you and how is the weather right now?
I'm still in my bed (it's 11am) and I have no idea what the weather is like. 

6. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Maggie

7. The first thing you notice about a person you could potentially be romantically attracted to?
eyes, smile, butt, legs. oh legs. i have such a thing for legs.

8. Do you have a significant other?
maaa-ha-ha-ha-ha

9. Would you ask someone out?
unlikely. i wish i were brave, but men (and rejection) scare me. plus i'm awkward. super awkward.

10. Favorite TV show?
GLEE

11. Parents?
Dan and Dawn. they're pretty awesome. and their names go together; they're an alliteration.

12. Siblings?
Dave and Matt. (and sister-in-law Abby.) i'm a middle child and the only girl (well, until Abby) and i like to think about birth order and gender order and what that has to do with why i am the way i am. it's not excuses, just interesting thoughts.

13. How tall did you want to be when you were growing up? How tall are you?
i always wanted to be 5' 10". i also wanted to be thin. we don't get what we want.
I'm 5'6.5" and on the chubby side. ( :

14. Have you ever cried for no reason?
i wouldn't say "for no reason," i'd say when overwhelmed by emotion and empathy.

15. What was the last movie you watched?
Waiting for Superman

16. Are you too shy to ask someone out?
see answer on #9. i think i might pee my pants or have an attack of the nervous giggles. i despise the nervous giggles. i also can't help the nervous giggles.

17. What is your favorite website? (besides facebook)
does google reader count? thepioneerwoman.com

18. Would you consider yourself a hugger?
yes. i want to hug everyone. i don't actually feel like i can relate to people until i touch them in some way.

19. What will always make you laugh no matter what?
talking with a lisp. sorry to those of you who actually have a lisp, but just imagine..."i'd like to go to bojangles (this is a fast food restaurant out here) and get a bo-berry bisssthcuit." the word "biscuit" is hilarious. HI-LAR-I-OUS.

20. What word(s) do you waaaay over-use?
hilarious. and that's all i can think of right now, but i know there are more.

21. What books are you reading?
i'm reading the Chronicles of Narnia

22. Piercings? Tattoos?
piercings--keep it tasteful. tattoos--yes please. i feel like both of these take confidence to pull off. i love confidence.
and I have 2 holes in each ear, one in my left nostril and 2 tattoos. 

23. Favorite movies?
love actually, kinky boots, harry potter (all of them), knocked up, hairspray, the rock, penelope

24. Favorite actor/actress?
Hugh Jackman, John Cusack, Emma Thompson (seriously, that woman is amazing)

25. Butter, Plain or Salted popcorn?
ummm...sugar popcorn. i was taught to make this by my lovely friend Emily Tyler. if you'd like a tutorial, i'll give you one later. it's delish.

26. Dogs or cats?
yes please. I love my Hank. i can't wait to have enough space for an aquarium. oh and i want a dog so badly...

27. Favorite flower?
ranunculus

28. Best job ever?

although i really like being a massage therapist, i LOVED being an RD. seriously, i loved my students. loved my job. 

29. Who would you like to see right now?
family. or hugh jackman. 

30. Are you still friends with people from kindergarten?
i don't really remember kindergarten. i don't know who was in my class. maybe? 

31. What scares the bee-jeebers out of you?
the FUTURE.

32. Do you like to travel by plane?
yes please. 

33. Do you have a Tattoo?
no, i have two.


34. Country or city? Where do you want to live?
i think i'm leaning toward the country. BUT, i must-must-must have access to the city. it really depends on if i ever find someone who i choose to live the rest of my life with. if he has to be in the country, i will live there. if he has to be in the city i will live there. i just need some variety, so if there were city or country within an hour i will be happy as a clam.

35. Most annoying thing:
i love coffee. it makes me poop. i hate pooping at work. the end.

Photos

Hey y'all.

Yeah, I just said "y'all," that word is a mystery to me, too. I don't use it in real life.

Back to what I wanted to tell you...I'm feeling uninspired. *sigh* I need things to take pictures of. By things I mean people or something exciting or something other than my cats or food in my dark, dreary kitchen.

The thing is, I was looking back through my pictures and I don't really like anything. Nada, zip, zilch, nothi...wait there's one.

Yup, just this one. That's it. The only one for weeks.

Woe is me, it's so hard to be Amy.
( :

I'm thinking about doing a photo-a-day blog challenge thing if I can find one that's appealing. Or not.
Do you have any suggestions?

Theme Song

So, I've kinda been in love with this song for several years...like since college. It's nothing new. 

And it's country. 

Go ahead, judge me. I know all you hipsters all you hipsters and wannabe hipsters and I'm-notta-hipsters and Maggie are anti-country. 

Here's my question for you: Is there anything better than cruising around on a warm spring day, sun shining, windows down, hair blowing, singing as loud as you can to the sounds of a guitar with your best twangy voice?? 

The answer: NO.

Sara Evans - Born To Fly (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Sara Evans

Born to Fly

I've been tellin' my dreams to the scarecrow
'Bout the places that I'd like to see
I said, friend do you think I'll ever get there
Ah, but he just stands there smilin' back at me

So I confessed my sins to the preacher
About the love I've been prayin' to find
Is there a brown eye'd boy in my future, yeah
He says. girl you've got nothin' but time

But how do you wait for heaven
And who has that much time
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know, that you were born, you were born to fly

My daddy, he's grounded like the oak tree
My momma, she is steady as the sun
Oh you know I love my folks
But I keep starin' down the road
Just lookin' for my one chance to run

Yeah, 'cause I will soar away like the blackbird
I will blow in the wind like a sea
I will plant my heart in the garden of my dreams
And I will grow up where I'll wander wild and free

Oh, how do you wait for heaven
And who has that much time
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know, that you were born
You were born yeah
You were born to fly

So how do you wait for heaven
And who has that much time
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know that you were born
You were born to fly fly fly fly

Budgeting

I thought you would like to know how life with a budget is going.

Well, it's going!

Actually, it's kinda nice. I really like it. No, really I like it. I like visually seeing how much moolah I'm going to be spending for the week. I like knowing that I didn't have coffee the other day, so if I want to give my BFFL [Barista Friend For Life] a whole dollar tip I can. I can also look at it and say, "Amy go home and make spaghetti, you ran out of money two days ago." And I do. I've been pretty stingy with the debit card for spending outside of the budget. Well, I did get it out at Target last week to purchase some unmentionables, but they were on sale! I needed them! A girl's got to have new undies sometimes! 

We're not debating underwear here though. The thing is back in December/January I took three weeks off of work. As an hourly employee those three weeks equals NO PAYCHECKS. Which means that I was behind which means that I had to catch up and the last paycheck I got was my first "I don't have any major bills to pay from this paycheck" paycheck. Yay! 

No, YAAAAY!!!

I'm not über-rigid about my budget. I could be, but I'm not. I don't need it to stress me out. As long as I'm  saving some, getting my bills paid, and staying within my means, it's a big gold star in my book!

Being financially responsible is hard work.

Music for Yooooou

Hi, have I told you how much I love you lately? You forgot? I'm sorry, I'll be better.

I luv you.

After spending some time in Twitter-ville, I kept coming across people talking about The Avett Brothers. I trust the people I'm friends with on Twitter. I must find this music. I must listen to it. I must like it.

Found it on on Amazon. [For $5! you know I love a deal!]

It happened to be this live album:

Love it. Although, sometimes there's some questionable screaming. I only mention this because I'm concerned for the vocal chords of whoever is screaming/yelling/shouting/passionately making noise.

Here's the song that gave me pause:

I think you might need it in your life. Would you like it?

Aaaaaaannnnnnnddddd the winner is: 

Lee! 
[And, yes, I only counted the first responses from Lee and Rachel in the running dialogue occuring. ( :]

Leave me a comment telling me what new music group or album you're smitten by right now. Hopefully we'll discover some new music in our lives. ( : 

Deadline: Next Thursday, Feb. 24
[We don't have to be BFF for you to enter. It's ok. I'm just going to email the winner the album 
via Amazon. Go ahead. You can do it.]

xo

Mini-Rant

Dear Glee [and iTunes?]:

I want to punch you [peacefully] in the face.

Why no albums? Why are you selling every song individually?

Reasons this annoys me:

• When synced to my iPod and playing in my iTunes each album is separate, so it's not like I can select an album to listen to.
• This is a pain in the butt, also known as, I don't want to select each song, I want you to give my my album of songs from every 3-4 episodes and put them together and let me pay my $12.99.
• I think you're trying to get more money out of me. 
• Jerks.

Glee, Fox, iTunes--get your act together and do what I want! After all, we all know that I'm right. 

xo,

amy

Things I Really Like, a numbered list

1. Dishwasher
2. Sewing machine
3. Deodorant 
4. Massages
5. Great Conversation
6. Chocolate+Peanut Butter (see below)
7. People who take the time to "get" me
8. People who "get" me instantly
9. Really, really good food
10. Staying in hotels
11. Vacation
12. Apple Pi
13. Target 
14. Singing
15. Toothbrush
16. Blogs*
17. When my savings account has actual money in it [as opposed to the fake money that isn't in it].
18. Crafting
19. Sleeping in my warm bed
20. Beards
21. Gingers
22. Freckles
23. Sunshine
24. Lattes
25. When your barista knows what you want and all they say is "Your usual? Hot or cold?"
26. Ballet flats
27. Dance class
28. Tattoos
29. Yarn
30. Swimming
31. Laughing
32. Finding a cheap, yet scrumptious take-out place
33. Well fitted undergarments
34. Candles
35. Glee
36. Ice cream
37. Baths
38. Driving with the windows down
39. Quotes
40. Cookbooks
41. Magazines
42. Television-oh how I miss you!
43. Hugs
44. Cardigans
45. Taking pick-tures
46. Porches
47. Deals
48. Harry Potter 
49. John Cusack
50. This guy...

...who is practically sitting on top of my keyboard so I will pay attention to him.

*Does anyone else think the word "blog" is funny? The more I read it and say it the funnier it becomes blog blog blog BLOG Blog bLog blog blog BLog blOg bloG bLOG blog BLOg blog blog blog blog blog BLOG Blog bLog blog blog BLog blOg bloG bLOG blog BLOg blog blog blog blog blog BLOG Blog bLog blog blog BLog blOg bloG bLOG blog BLOg blog blog blog blog blog BLOG Blog bLog blog blog BLog blOg bloG bLOG blog BLOg blog blog blog blog blog BLOG Blog bLog blog blog BLog blOg bloG bLOG blog BLOg blog blog blog blog blog BLOG Blog bLog blog blog BLog blOg bloG bLOG blog BLOg blog blog blog blog blog BLOG Blog bLog blog blog BLog blOg bloG bLOG blog BLOg blog blog blog blog blog BLOG Blog bLog blog blog BLog blOg bloG bLOG blog BLOg blog blog blogging blogger bloggest
See it's a weird word.

Later tators.

xo

It's Love

Apparently there are some contenders for the greatest love story ever told. I would like to point out to the general public, that the greatest love story is not between a man and a woman.

No, it is between peanut butter and chocolate.
True that.

So, I've been hankering for some PB+chocolate as of late. Usually, my go to is some chocolate chips melted in the microwave with some peanut butter, then stirring in rice crispies and sea salt. Yes, I do this a lot. Except last week, I decided I actually wanted to bake something. Something chocolatey and peanut buttery with lots of good texture.

Thus, the Monster Brownie was born.

I don't know if this existed previously, it probably did.

I began with my monster cookie recipe. Basically you add each item and stir and in the end--cookie dough. The nine ingredients:

• 1 Egg
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 3 Tbsp Butter, softened
• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
• 1 1/2 cups Oatmeal, I use the quick kind
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips, you could use m&m's candy coated chocolates as well

Mix, spread and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes. 

While the first layer is in the oven, make the brownies. Six steps this time:

• 1 stick Butter, melted in a saucepan
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/3 cup Cocoa Powder, unsweetened
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 cup Flour

WHAT?!?! No salt? Nah, I just left it out of the cookies and brownies so I could sprinkle on a layer between the sweetness. 

Extra salt, that's how I roll. 

Thirty minutes in the oven, good things are happening. 

The greatest love ever. 

I may or may not haven eaten enough of the pan to make my mouth hurt. The oatmeal is good texture, but oh...a few monster brownies down the road and that "texture" texturizes your gums. 

Yeah, I don't know why I'm only hanging out with Hank tonight either. 

Not Broken

True story, I just had this conversation.

Me: I need someone to have a crush on!
Megan: You can have one of mine.
Me: One of your under-age basketball players?
Megan: They're not under-age.
[End scene.]

Do you know how long it has been since a "woe-is-me, I'm so single, blah blah blah" post? Let me check....October 19th. Yes, that is a long time.

Guess what? Nothing has changed.

I'm trying to keep it interesting around here, but the truth is, I'm lame. However, in the midst of my lameness, I came to a realization today.

I am not broken. 

OK, maybe I am broken in other ways, but is my singleness one of them? As we learned about "wholeness" vs. "brokenness" this morning at church, I realized that I was making myself broken. Yes, I might have had a few moments of not listening to the sermon at church while I was inside my head. It dawned upon me: I view myself as being inept. Incompetent. Slow. Delayed. Abnormal. Outcast. Unimportant. Rejected. Defective. For some reason, in my mind I have built this reality where a successful, important, stable life revolves being in a relationship. The lack of relationship in my life is negative.

News flash, Amy: This is not real. This is all in your mind.

I am better than accepting these perceptions as my truth. My story is bigger than whether I'm single or not. Whether I'm having sex or not. Whether I'm dating or not. Whether I'm engaged or not. Whether I'm married or not.

My time of becoming is now, I have the opportunity to discover, build, try, serve and experience almost anything I want right now, all by myself. It's not because there's something wrong with me, it's because that's the way it's supposed to be right now. Someday, that may change. I could make that decision for myself and jump into the pants of the next guy who walks by my table at the coffee shop or I could sit back and say hi and let things progress at the right pace. I'm going with the latter, I'm not really the kind of girl for the former. See, I believe that there is a man out there who is going to cross my path and he's going to be perfect.

OK, not perfect. Perfect in his imperfection. At least, I will be willing to put up with-and possibly love-the imperfections. Those are song lyrics, right? Something along the lines of "perfect in her imperfection." Too lazy to look up.

I want to be in a relationship, but I want to be in the right relationship more than I don't want to be alone. Does that make any sense? And the reason, I'm not in the "right relationship"? Because I haven't encountered it yet, not because something is wrong with me.

I shall now dismount my soapbox.

-----------------------------------------------------

I may be broken, but I am infinitely valuable in the eyes of God. [So are you.]

xo

UPDATE: I realize some of you may read this and think, "Oh, sad. Amy needs a hug." I like hugs, but I read this and think, "I AM SO MUCH AWESOMER THAN I THOUGHT I WAS!!" I use words like "awesomer" in my head when I talk about myself.

Lemon-Berry Muffins

MUFFINS!!! 

For some reason, as much as I love a beautiful cake or coffee cake or other large treat, something that comes individually packaged is so much better! Which, is why muffins and cupcakes are awesome.

Small things are cute and that's that. Except I think that giant muffins are also delicious, so that kind of blows that theory out of the water. Oh, well. 

I made the muffins a few weeks ago for a group of people at church. I couldn't decide between blueberry muffins or some other concoction, so I went with the "other concoction." Basically, I took a blueberry muffin recipe and did my own thing like using blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries; adding lemon zest/juice; streusel! [A couple of weeks ago I was on a streusel binge, so thankful that is over. For now.]

Since I was using frozen fruit I had the brilliant (BRILLIANT!) idea of letting the berries thaw and have them rest on paper towels to rest and release their juices. Good in theory. In practice? Time wasted.  

I cut up some of the larger berries into smaller pieces so that there was a good mix in each muffin. Equality for all berries! 

Then came decision time, cinnamon flavors and berries vs lemon and berries? Well, I went with the lemon, but I think the cinnamon would also be quite delicious. 

Zest and juice both please. I do love lemon. It's like edible springtime in the middle of winter. 

[Someday I'm going to get my act together and either a)bake when there's natural light or b)use my white balance properly.]

Waste of time #2: tossing the berries in flour. Now, I think this would have been more successful if I had used fresh or frozen berries, but my thawed berries kind of turned into a hot mess. 

I whipped up a little streusel to top the batter with before baking and voila! Lemon-Berry Muffins! 

Lemon-Berry Muffins

• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1  Egg
• 1 cup Sugar
• 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1-¼ cup Sour Cream
• zest and juice from one lemon
• 1-½ cup Frozen Berries (I used blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries)

streusel

• 4 tblsp butter, softened
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Green

I am envious. I have yet to survive a blizzard. We all know that blizzards come years and years apart, "oh that was the blizzard of '78" "during the blizzard of '47" "it was so cold at the blizzard of '65" BLAH BLAH BLAH.

I don't care about you snow haters, I LOVE SNOW. I LIKE COLD WEATHER.

I AM MISSING THE BLIZZARD OF 2011!! 

(Please note that capital letters indicate emFAHsis.)

This is my parent's front porch.

DUUUUUUKE!

You can pronounce that "doooooooooooooooooooo-K" if you'd like.

Megan frequently goes to Duke basketball games. She's a grad student, it's why she's at Duke. I mean, right? She's not getting her M.Div for professional reasons, it's all for the basketball.

Or not.
[For reals, she's there for the academics, yo. The basketball is just a bonus.]

So, I wanted to experience a D1, real-live-in-Cameron Stadium basketball game. Of the women's variety since I don't really like large crowds and I enjoy women's basketball.

On our walk over we saw K-ville, yes, they really call it that.

These are the undergrad tents, they've been camping since, oh, Jan. 2nd. Why? For tickets/seats at the Duke vs. UNC game next week. Can you say fanatical?

I won this hat and got a t-shirt. That's as much of a Duke fan as I'm probably ever going to be. Sorry, Blue Devils.

During the first half of the game, Megan kept making these squeaky sounds accompanied by this face. Why?

Because of these:

Apparently they're basketball players from the men's team. And they're babies: gigantic, gorgeous, talented, athletic teenagers. OK, they might be 21. Still babies.

[photo cred: Paige]

Except they make the girls go crazy. I can't imagine going to college and having people ask for my autograph and to have their picture taken with me. This is why I am sitting at my computer typing this nonsense and they are on a court dribbling and shooting a basketball, because I am not destined to be famous.

Nor am I destined to be a Blue Devil, but the Blue Devil was lovin' the Div School!

I had a great time at the game! Thanks to the Duke Divinity School for hosting a fun "divinely angelic" event!

[photo cred: GoDuke.com]

Movies

Today it is dreary and cold and rainy in Durham. I have to go to work, but if I could stay home and watch movies I would. Here are some that I would suggest:

• Penelope-For some reason this wasn't really released when it came out, but if you can get your hands on it, it's worth watching.
• Stardust-If you like The Princess Bride, you should definitely take the time to watch this fairy tale. 
• Love Actually-Because love, actually, is all around. 
• How to Train Your Dragon-CUTE! This was my favorite movie of summer 2010
• Secretariat-A really good horse movie. 
• Anne of Green Gables-Eyes off Gilbert, he's mine! ( :
• The King's Speech-So, you have to go to the theater. It's worth the trip. 
• Beauty and the Beast-My favorite Disney cartoon.
• Something New-It's just an enjoyable romantic comedy.
• Glory Road-Ahhhhh, I love sports movies. 

Have a great day!

xo

Wanna go on a walk?

I know many of you are experiencing some snow. Some snow like this:

Chicago, IL by Michelle

Mount Pleasant, MI by Becky

Westfield, IN by Nicole

Chicago, IL by Marissa

McPherson, KS by Matt P.

Yup, it looks pretty chilly and white in all these places. Do you know how long it's been since I've experienced real snow? Years, people. Yes, I'm jealous. 

Of course, today it was about 64 and partly sunny when I left my house. So I wore a t-shirt, light cardigan, jeans and my TOMS and set off for a walk around the dirty D. Final destination: Parker and Otis for a grilled pimento cheese sammich. ( :

Bike coop? Like a chicken coop? I'm imagining a place where the bikes are stored with a large chain link fence around it. What? A bike co-op? Well, that changes things. 

These bull bike racks are in several places around the Bull City. I think they're quite interesting. 

Seeds. 

"True community is based upon

equality, mutuality, and reciprocity

It affirms richness of individual 

diversity as well as the common

human ties that bind us together."

I need to learn more about this woman. 

The Carolina Theatre, it's where I see (sometimes weird) Indie movies. 

To me, this is Durham. The old tobacco warehouses and factories that are now apartments and offices and restaurants. 

Can someone tell me what this means? What is a cigarette that satisfies? Does that mean it has more nicotine? Better flavor? It suppresses your appetite?

Thanks for hanging out with me. Stay warm and safe wherever you are!

xo