Animals like to pee on me.

Hello!

Long time, no talk. Goodness gracious. I have photos of food I have made recently, but I will have to wait until next time (hopefully this week) to post those. :) Today, though, I will give a quick update.

Work has been NUTS, but I love every minute of it. The staff at my school and my students make me happy every day :).

A few weeks ago we went to one of my man's friend's homes for Sunday Dinner. His mom is a fantastic cook. We had fried crappie, jalapeno hush puppies. different forms of salads (e.g., potatoes, coleslaw, etc.). It was awesome! Then we went and shot guns and had a good 'ole Southern time. It was grand.

Anyways, we were at the house (which is in the middle of some hills surrounded by farm equipment and animals and I just loved it), and I saw that they had chinchillas. I had never pet a chinchilla before, so my friend got one out. Well....... I was holding it and all was going well, then it peed on me. Urination numero uno.

I know that a number of funny things have also happened that I intended to tell you about, but I just can't remember them right now. Partly because Scandal is on my Netflix. Partly because the eclipse is going on, and I don't want to miss it. Partly because my computer is saying it might die soon, and I'm trying to get this finished.

So then this Thursday my country gentleman's friends came over. When they went outside for a second, one of them said, "I caught a frog but then he hit my hand, and it went under your TV stand." Now, they had gone to the bowling alley and brought back little arcade trinkets, so I fully thought this was one of those plastic, fake hoppy frogs. Not two minutes later, I saw a real, live frog hopping through my house. So, I went to catch it (along with another girl who was at my house), and I got it. I went to bring it outside, and what did it do?! Peed on me. Urination numero dos.

So, ANYWAYS. Saysay's mama got a new dog from his sister's boyfriend recently. It's a cutie pie. I am deprived of puppy lovin's right now (seeing as I haven't seen my pup since early August), so I was very excited. I got right down on the floor with it and not ten seconds into our play time I felt a familiar feeling.

Yes. That warm, wet, ISTHISREALLYHAPPENING, feeling. I have experienced this feeling (in recent years) myself when I was on the road and couldn't find a bathroom anywhere in the freakin' state of Iowa. See my 2012 posts for that wet and embarrassing adventure. Anyways. The dog peed on me. Obviously, I did not care because he is a precious young pup. Urination numero tres (spelling? I know that's the French way to do it.)

I just thought it was funny that I have recently been peed on THREE TIMES by little animals.

Such is life.

At least my students haven't done that yet. (Was that too much?).

Okay, so I lied. Apparently, I have more battery than I thought.

 Here are a couple pictures of things I've made recently.

Here is a caramel, cinnamon apple monkey bread I made!

Here is a lemon garlic asparagus, summer squash, and cherry tomato veggie pasta that was yummilicious :). 

Off to watch the eclipse! Love, y'all! xoxo 

The calm of cooking.

Well, it has been a couple of weeks since I have posted, I do believe. I have just been getting back into the groove of working and whatnot. I am going to begin doing some PRN work at a pediatric clinic here a couple of days after school. I'm excited about that! It will be some extra money and will give me something to do while my guy is at work during the week.

I tend to not get super creative with cooking when it's only for myself, but when Sayer has been here, I've been experimenting a bit more :). Here are a few of the new things I've made in the last few weeks:

These are some stuffed peppers. I've made them before with some spiced sausage I got from the farmer's market. This time, I used bison meat we bought at the local farmer's market. I love that place! I spiced it up with a variety of things and then cooked it with some sauteed onions and garlic. After that, I cooked some quinoa. I combined all of that together with some chopped tomato, Rotel, and shredded cheese. I threw them in some green peppers I had blanched, and then put them in a pan with some water in the bottom to continue steaming them. I topped it with a bit more shredded cheese and cooked them for around 20 minutes. Voila!

My Southern gentleman and I had a sweet tooth on this night, so I whipped out a quick (I'm talking twenty-five minutes total) monkey bread for dessert. I just grabbed a can of buttermilk biscuits, melted some butter and syrup with some cinnamon and sugar, and put some nuts in there. Yum yum.

My guy's mom came over on Wednesday night for dinner and church :). I made blackened salmon with a salad and some croissant rolls. The salmon rub was a mixture of brown sugar, cayenne, cumin, chili powder, garlic, and some other stuff. The salad I made was one that I had had at a wedding a few years ago--I haven't stopped thinking about it since! It was a mixture of baby spinach and arugula, blue cheese crumbles, pear slices, cashews, and a strawberry poppyseed vinaigrette. The croissants were just canned--ain't nobody got time for making those by hand! Anyways, we got some good girl time in, and it was a fun night :).

For Thursday night, I wanted to make Sayer a treat. I feel like I get in a rut cooking fish and chicken the same ways, so I have been researching new things to do (hence, the blackened salmon haha)! I generally keep a couple different kinds of fish, chicken, and some other kind of meat (most recently, bison) in the freezer. I like to mix it up.

For this, I took some frozen salmon fillets and thawed them out. After chopping them up, I mixed them with some bread crumbs, some homemade Cajun seasoning (thanks, Pinterest!), some green onions, and some mayo. Then, I formed them into patties and started to fry them up in some coconut oil. To put on top of it, I made some lemon garlic aoili. It was super simple! Just some mayo (I added sour cream), some lemon juice, and some minced garlic.

Saysay likes a hearty meal, so I made some homemade steak fries to go with it. I just cut up some potatoes and rubbed them down with some olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and stuck them in the oven.

I took the extra potatoes and diced them up. Then I sauteed them with some onions and green peppers so that he could use them for breakfast in the morning! Since Sayer's been working away during the week, I have been loving the time I get to spend with him over the weekends.

Cooking calms me. Cooking for others makes me happy. To quote one of my favorite movies--Julie and Julia--this resonates with me: "I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say 'nothing' I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It's such a comfort." 

Well, I suppose that's enough for now. My guy and I are having a nice chat about church and God while he is on the road, and I don't want to be distracted (even though I'm not the one driving lol). I think if I'm going to keep cooking, I should probably get some new (nicer) plates. I only have ones with shamrocks on them, and I kind of feel like it detracts from the food (or how I want it to look). Luckily, my guy got me a Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift card for my birthday. New plates and wine glasses for me! Woo woo! Am I too domestic for a *gulp* twenty-five year old? C'est la vie. ;)

Love, y'all!

Off and runnin'...

School has started back up! It was so nice to see all of the students again today. It's the little things like getting an unexpected hug from a student that make it all worthwhile :).

This past weekend was a lot of fun. My guy got back last Thursday, and we spent the weekend hanging out with friends and family. It was one of his cousins/our friend's birthdays on Saturday, so we went to a birthday party--coincidentally, for his twin sons--and then to BWW for din din. After that we went bowling. I may or may not have thrown the ball backwards once or twice. We all decided to give up on trying and just have fun, so there was some yoga bowling, backwards bowling... just a bunch of different types of bowling going on.

Tonight, I think I'll make a pretty basic meal of chicken, quinoa, and veggies. Mmmmm mmm mmmmmmm. I'll leave you with some pictures of my vacation that I forgot to post earlier. Maybe I'll have something more exciting to say when I've wrapped my head around my to-do list. I'll just be here... making data forms and working on papers and watching The Pioneer Woman. Yea, that's still a thing ;).

Cross in the Woods Church in Indian River, MI. 

This place is so magical. 

Can you tell it's a Snapchat? No? Good. Mum taught me to play Cribbage!

STOP LOOKIN' AT ME SWAN. (But seriously, he was chasing us.)

Small World Update: One of the new SLP's in my district is from a town an hour and a half away from my hometown in Michigan. ALSO, she is friends with one of the hockey players who used to live with me and is now like part of our family. CRAY. 

Love, y'all!

It's a small world, after all.

Well, work starts back up tomorrow. I have to say that the summer flew by; however, I really couldn't have asked for a more perfect, relaxing vacation. I went to Michigan multiple times--I spent more of my summer there than down South. Let's be honest, that was my intention when taking a job at a school versus a hospital (also, the hilarious kids!). Mission accomplished, I suppose! I will put some pictures from my vacation throughout this post to break up the text (in no apparent order). I try to leave faces out in case people don't want to be shown; sorry about that! This post is longer than usual, and I know I hate just staring at words!

My uncle threw his washer directly onto the box latch. That won't happen twice!

Camping was perfect, if not more low-key than usual. We just hung around and went on the boat nearly EVERY day. Is there a more perfect way to spend a Northern Michigan summer?? I think not. I already miss my family, pup, and the mild temperatures (even though camping was exceptionally warm this year), but it is definitely nice to be back at my own house. With my toiletries. And AC. Ahhhhh....

 Airport staple: morning Bloody Mary :).

So Thursday (i.e., the day I flew back to Arkansas), I had one of those days where one must shake her head and go, "What a small world." As in, the lady sitting next to me on the plane and I sat there saying, "Wow, what a small world," for a good five minutes. That's not an exaggeration. Here's what happened:

A day on the Mullet Lake sandbar. 

The day started out like any other day of travel out of the Milwaukee airport. (SIDEBAR: THERE IS A FANTASTIC BOOKSHOP IN THAT AIRPORT IF ANYONE HAPPENS TO TRAVEL THROUGH IT. AND BY FANTASTIC, I MEAN FANTASTIC). Anyways, I go to board my flight from Milwaukee to Atlanta. I walk on the plane and the flight attendant asks how I am. I respond that I'm great and ask him the same question. He responds with, "Well, I'm fantastic now that you're here, beautiful! Love your braids! They look beautiful." (I had my hair braided so that it would dry and  be wavy by the time I reached my final destination. Yes, I looked like the Wendy's girl grown up. Braided hair, don't care). I smiled and took my seat. I ended up being seated next to two girls who were almost EXACTLY my age. The flight attendant walks up to us to offer refreshments and says, "Wow! Are y'all traveling together? Bachelorette party?! Girls' WEEKEND!?" (there seemed to be a direct correlation between the increasing altitude and his pitch and volume). We all replied that, no, we were not traveling together and had never met. This seemed very amusing to him as he continued to comment on what an odd coincidence it would be for all of us to be seated next to each other. That got us talking.

A different day on the Mullet Lake sandbar.

The middle girl was headed to North Carolina to see her boyfriend and dog. She was a physical therapist (well, in PT school) with a four-hour layover. The girl in the aisle was a speech pathologist (well, in SLP grad school). I am a speech pathologist. She was headed to somewhere in southern Georgia for a wedding and she had a forty-five minute layover. I also had a forty-five minute layover. We were very concerned about our forty-five minute layovers because--as anyone who has traveled through the ATL airport before knows--that place is cray. We had approximately nineteen minutes from landing to when our next planes began boarding. We flagged down our ever-complimentary flight attendant to ask his opinion on whether we would get to our terminal on time for our next flights. Also, Delta will check where your arrival and departure gates are, so we wanted to be prepared in the event that we needed to book it when we landed. We gave him our flight codes for our connecting planes and he looked at us, deadpan, and said, "Oh, ladies. You're screwed. You'll never make it." Silence.

DELICIOUS donuts in Kenosha, WI.

"OMG I'm kidding! You'll be fine!" He then proceeded to look up our flights and call us combinations of "sweet things", "beautiful", and "pretty lady". He once referred to me as "my angel by the window". He looked like a combination of that Carson guy from Queer Eye and Billy Idol. He might have been wearing eyeliner. Anyways, the other SLP and I were flying out of the same terminal, so at the end of our flight we said goodbye to our new-found PT friend and our eccentric flight attendant, and booked it for our next terminal. Once there, we said goodbye and headed to our respective departure gates.

My parents' beautiful front lawn on a 70 degree day (dad would want me to say we were gone for ten days so the lawn wasn't tended to).

 So, I'm walking down the terminal at the BUSIEST AIRPORT IN THE COUNTRY, and I see a familiar face. I call a name and the person looks over, says "woah! Mia?", and tells me he will be right back. That his departure gate is immediately next to mine. My dad is a hockey coach, and it turns out that the coach for the university he used to work at was flying out from the gate next door. I mean, I run into someone I have known well for YEARS, who is a family friend, and he happens to flying out in the next gate... in ATLANTA. What are the odds? Anyways, we chat and catch up and hug and he flies to the Keys, and I fly to Arkansas. Oh, also my plane was delayed. So I suppose I hadn't needed to worry about making it to my gate anyways. C'est la vie; I got my cardio in! Onward to Arkansas.

THIS CAR IS ON FIIIRRREEE. But seriously. That car was in FLAMES in Milwaukee.

In the plane to Arkansas, I got to talking to the lady seated next to me. She was going to visit a friend and had never been to the area. I was seated next to some chatty Cathy's on this trip, but I didn't mind; I can be a chatty Cathy sometimes too. So anyways, we get to talking about things and find out we are both from Michigan. She is from Grand Rapids, but now lives in Indiana. She is a recently retired para-pro who had a TERRIBLE year. Her husband passed away in a freak accidence, then her father passed away, then they wouldn't give her health insurance... there were some other things in there too. I sat there in awe of this woman who was in such great spirits, going to see a Def Leppard concert with a friend, telling me that God has a plan in everything, and that she was thankful for what she did have. Sorry for the run-on sentences, but this woman was really inspirational. Anyways, we get to talking about her most recent trip to Mackinac Island (at the exact same time I was camping in Indian River twenty minutes away) and how she went on a horseback trip around the island. I told her that I knew the family who owned the horses when I was in high school, and named who may have been working. Sure enough, one of the girls I used to hang out with sometimes was her tour guide. A woman on a plane on the way to Fort Smith, Arkansas had just had an island tour with a girl I knew from high school. We both sat there discussing our similar stories and getting to know each other and saying, "What a small world" over and over. And it is. It's a beautiful, exciting, unexpected, small world.

Aw, look. There's the front of my parents' house. This picture makes me happy when I miss Michigan.

I got home and my Southern gentleman took me out for my birthday (belatedly). We had a fantastic night and a great weekend together. He recently left for his job in Oklahoma, but he'll be back on Thursday :). I already can't wait. He's pretty dang cool. With work starting back up, my weekdays are going to fly anyway.

The Fryer Dudes doing their fryer thaaang. Can anyone say, "most delicious fish ever?" I just did.

I read Ree Drummond's book about how she met her husband, and it was adorable. I may or may not be (I AM) watching her TV show right now. Ugh, I'm a woman obsessed. The other thing I am obsessed with right now: my new Kate Spade agenda. It's adorable and rose-colored and gold and makes me feel better about life. All is right with the world. (I also read Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn--girl is nuts. I am in the process of finishing I am Pilgrim right now. Great read if you like mysteries!).

Burtt Lake sandbar! Are we keeping tally of boat days? My dad and I figured it was at least 7/10. Not bad!

 Camping with some fantastic people (it's dark enough that you can't really see faces, right?). 

The Ore Dock in Marquette. How can an eyesore be so beautiful?

Love, y'all!

Travels, Tigers, and TC... Oh, MI!

Well, hello there!

Despite having the summer off from work, I have been ALL over the place. I have gone back and forth to Michigan twice (and will be making the trip again in less than a week...thankfully, by plane this time). I must say that I am having a fantastic summer, though.

In between my first Michigan trip and my second, I spent a lot of time rearranging my house, reading outside with my iced coffee or tea, going for walks/runs in the Southern heat, and--of course--catching up on all things Pioneer Woman. Still love her.

After  a few weeks of being in the South again, my love and I took a trip UP North. We had an amazing time. He loves the landscape, scenery, food, drinks, weather, and people up there as much as I do. Apart from trying local beers (which we both enjoy doing), he got to meet a few of my friends he hadn't before. We went hiking, fishing, and slept in... a lot. He needed and deserved a break :).

We started in Detroit where we met my family at a Tiger's game (his first pro ball game!). We spent that night and the next day moseying around the D and took in a second Tiger's game. We then headed to the Yoop to visit friends and family there. To finish it off, we ended up in Traverse City. If you've read any of my previous posts from when I lived there last summer, then you know how much I adore TC. My guy loved it just as much as me.  We went to my favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant there, the beach, putt-putt golfing (he won), go-karting (I won!), and topped it off with walking around downtown. It was during the Cherry Festival, so we tried all things cherry. The cherry beer and wine at Mackinaw Brewing Co. were particularly delish. My Southern gentleman continues to grow an appreciation for Northern Michigan beauty :).

I discovered our local farmer's market during my Southern break from Northern summer. The produce is WONDERFUL. I like to go early on Tuesday mornings (it takes place on Tuesday's and Saturday's) and pick up my veggies for the week. I like to eat/cook a lot of vegetables, and the farmer's market is less expensive than the grocery store I use. ALSO, everything is grown locally.

I like to collect cook books and have probably around 15 or so. That's nothing compared to my guy's grandma (who is a cooking/baking legend around here), but I like to look through what I have nonetheless :). Having all this time off this summer has really stoked my foodie flame. 

As I've been channeling The Pioneer Woman recently, I have been cooking/baking a lot. Cooking has always been an activity that calms me, so being able to do it at a leisurely pace has been wonderful. I love waking up and figuring out how I can combine the ingredients I've picked up from the market into something new. It's always a little pump-up to my confidence when my Southern guy tells me to "definitely save that" recipe, too! Feeding people makes me happy, and it's been awesome to have time to do that :).

Here are a few of the things I've remembered to take pictures of. I cook nearly every day of the week, so obviously this isn't everything I've made!

Blackberry cobbler (Pioneer Woman recipe)

Copy-cat sausage kale Toscana soup with breadsticks (of the Olive Garden variety)

Fresh tomato salad, spicy garlic red snapper, and chili butter corn. 

Peach-blackberry walnut muffins. 

Spicy stuffed summer squash (alliteration alert!). My guy said to save this one!

Lemon pound cake before the glaze. 

Lemon pound cake with lemon-lime glaze. Yum yum! Saysay said to save this one too :). 

Well, that's what I've been up to lately. We have a birthday party for my guy's little cousin (pretty much niece) today with some friends, so I need to go pick up a couple of gifts. Soon I'll be back in Michigan for our family camping trip, and then it's back to the sunny South for the start of work! Saysay starts his new job in a couple of weeks, so that will be an adjustment. I'm so excited for him, though. He's worked hard for it :). This summer is flying by, but I am loving every second of it. 

Love y'all!

Ree Drummond is my spirit animal.

Well, hello. It has been a while. My goodness. The school year flew by. My first year was somewhat stressful, kind of crazy, but incredibly wonderful. I love my job. I'm a bit out of school mode at the moment because I'm on summer break (WHAT WHAT), but let's just suffice it to say that my first year was good. :) I love my students and the people I work with. Also, we took my Master's thesis and turned it around into a publication submission for ASHA. My professor recently resubmitted it (after some edits), so here's to hoping it goes through! It was a work of time and love and is now even closer to my heart since I currently serve a similar population to my study. I'm proud of it. We will see what happens!

Having a summer break is fantastic, I must say. My man went to military training for most of the month of June, so I took a much needed trip to Michigan. I was able to visit with friends and family and had an absolutely WONDERFUL time. Michigan (particularly, the U.P.) in the summer is heaven.  Seriously. I spent time with my pup, went fishing, and got some good mommy time in :).

After a few weeks in a mild climate, this northern girl came back to the hot and humid South. I am learning that if I want to do things outside, it must happen early in the day. Otherwise, the sun picks up and heats everything it shines down on and the day just gets hotter and hotter until the sun goes down and then it's still hot. I have to tell ya: it is an odd thing that it does not get much cooler here at night. In Michigan, the water acts as a natural air conditioner, so it gets REAL cool at night. No such luck here.

HOWEVER, I do love the South (AND the heat, no matter what I say) :). It's really not so bad out. I am antsy sitting here looking outside at the spectacularly sunny day, but the last two times I've attempted to read my book outside have resulted in my feeling like I need a shower again. Even the wood posts on my porch-ish thing are giving off a sauna-y scent (i.e., it's stinkin' hot!). I know it's going to get warmer here, and it's not even July yet, but......

My handsome guy and I are taking a trip to Michigan in a couple of weeks! I am so unbelievably excited. So, in the meantime, I am doing things I consider "Southern":

1. Waking up early to get to the farmer's market or go for a run before it hits 90 degrees
2. Making/drinking iced tea on the porch while reading my book before it gets too hot
3. Cooking/baking with all of this incredible fresh produce from the farmer's market!
4. Decorating/organizing my house
5. Waiting out the heat by catching up on some Netflix and reading The Pioneer Woman's blog

As to the title of this post, I love The Pioneer Woman. I have been told multiple times by a variety of people that I remind them of Ree Drummond. I take that as a huge compliment. The more I watch her show and read her blog, the more I think that we are kindred spirits. I love her. I try to catch her show every day, and have been using my spare time to make some of her recipes.

Yesterday for dinner I made barbecue chicken (with an incredible sauce made by one of Sayer's family members), fiesta soup, and jalapeno cornbread. Sayer said it was one of the best meals I've made (it was also one of the easiest!), so I will definitely be making it again.

Tonight, Sayer says he wants to eat the leftovers of that soup (I won't complain)! I am going to make a kale salad with some of the greens and goodies I picked up from the farmer's market. I also might make something with these delicious peaches and blackberries I picked up, but I'll have to figure out what first.

Maybe I'll add some pictures of things I create/projects I do this summer. I've just been trying to keep busy. I'm slowly adjusting to not having anything to do; I'm not very good at sitting still ;).

Love, y'all!

Brief update... and articulation errors.

Whew! Work is busy. Busy busy busy. We are four SLP's short in my district, so we are all over our caseload limits. The district has actively been searching for SLP's to hire, but there just aren't any. I have some of the lowest numbers (with 54), and some ladies have RIDICULOUSLY high numbers (like, 77). We are all just trying to do the best we can. I heard that this may happen when I was in grad school, but you don't really think much of it until it actually happens. It's craziness, but luckily I have been keeping my head above water so far.

I love my kids. They are adorable and wonderful and make me laugh almost every day. Some days the paperwork and everything I have to do weighs on me a bit, but the students really help put it back in perspective: I'm there for them, and I know I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be right now. Around 60% of my caseload does not have English for their first language. Since I serve K-3, for a number of these students it is their first real exposure to English. That makes for some pretty funny articulation errors. I have one student who is one of the most unintelligible kiddos I've ever heard, but he is SO animated and excited to talk. He is a little cutie pie who LOVES to tell stories with his hands and facial expressions. Normally I can glean what he is trying to tell me, but sometimes I can't. Anywho, here is a story about him:

We are playing "Go Fish" with cards that have numbers and sea creatures on them. Suddenly, he gets this huge smile and goes:

WOOOWWW!! A BIG fart. A HUGE fart. A MEAN fart.
Me: What? What are you talking about?
*it's a shark. So he keeps saying "fart" and his peers start giggling a bit, so I'm like... Okay. I have to get this kid saying "shark".
Me: Shhhhh... like you're telling someone to be quiet. "SSshhhhh"
Him: SSHHHHH.
Me: Yes! Now, Shhhhaaaa
Him: Shhhaaaaaa
Me: Yes! Shaaaaaark.
Him: SSSHHHHAAAARRRRRTTT.
Me: : | .
*Now I'm thinking, "crap! I don't know which was better for him to be saying: 'fart' or 'shart'". Eventually, I got him saying "shark" correctly.

Also, kiddos with an /r/ distortion (think Boston, "cah" for "car"). I've just stopped doing "fork" for now, because it comes out as a fairly inappropriate word for that age group to use. Say it in your head. I serve a pretty rough population, as well, so they have DEFINITELY heard that word before, and it always ends in hysterics. I just don't use it until they have the sound down now :). 

Yesterday, I drove up to Branson to see my aunt who was in town visiting another family who recently moved to Missouri from the U.P. We went on a Showboat Dinner Cruise, and it was so much fun! After that, we walked around Branson and saw some live music. The drive up there was SUPER curvy, but it was almost entirely through the Ozarks. The colors have just started changing here, and the scenery was incredible. It was so nice to see a familiar face from home; especially someone I love so much!

Well, I'm going to go do some Medicaid billing and review some reports (while watching "Harry Potter" of course). I hope all is well with everyone. As an update, I said "y'all" the other day; I also said "come get you some", which is another Southern saying I've seemed to pick up. We'll see how this goes ;) .