i'd be the happiest girl ever if...

all 10 seasons of these guys were released any day now...

sometimes i really hate aaron spelling. how bout you?

bye bye rental stores!

<------ greatest concept ever!

do you have netflix? if so please let me know so i may add you to my 'friends' list so we can dish about movies and send recommendations to eachother.

yeah, already established that i'm a big dork.

...in bed

to help you all celebrate the day after the day after the halmark holiday i thought i'd share with you all a fun recipe. this recipe is for all of you who hate those damn fortunes in the fortune cookies at chinese restaurants (except chino latino. those fortunes rock.) anyway, now you can make your own fortune cookies and put your own fortunes in them. for instance you might make one for your sweetheart that says "i'll love you til the end of time" but do provide them with a bucket in case sudden nausea hits. or you could make one for your arch enemy that says "today heavy large blunt objects will fall on your head." you see, the possibilities are endless. so put your cooking skills and that creative mind to work and whip up a batch of your very own fortune cookies for that special someone, whoever it may be!

2 egg whites
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
dash of salt

preheat oven to 400 degrees.

in one bowl mix the sugar, flour and salt. in another bowl mix the egg whites and vanilla until foamy but not stiff (i don't have a hand mixer so i used an egg beater which worked well). sift the sugar/flour mixture into the egg whites and mix. on a WELL GREASED cookie sheet drop two spoonfuls of batter about 2 inches apart. tilt the cookie sheet so that the batter spreads evenly in a circle and thins. it should be almost transparent. bake at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes, checking periodically. the edges should turn golden, the middles will stay white.

remove from oven. use a wide spatula to remove the cookie from the sheet and place it on a wooden cutting board. put fortune in the middle of the circle and fold in half. pinch two parts together and fold in half again over a bowl. place in cupcake holder or egg carton to hold shape.

this might require some trial and error. if cookies are getting too hard lower the baking temp. see my yummy picture below for proof that this recipe indeed works!



mmmm, yummy...

gone are the days of halmark cards

in honor of my least favorite holiday i thought i might give those last minute gift hunters a suggestion. ladies, why not re-virginize yourself this year for valentine's day? ahhh, the true spirit of love making and creating...


oooh, when you google 'valentine's day' a pretty heart border comes up on the right side. DO IT!

me and my terrible tahl

i'll spare you all the boring chants. we all know pittsburgh won the super bowl blah blah blah blah blah.

if you want to read about that excitement catch it from one of the other million blogs out there screaming about it. am i happy they won? sure. did i cheer for them? of course. currently my throat hurts and i have no voice. BUT...am i sad that hopefully this city will resume to some sense of normalcy and non chaos? certainly not. i say, bout damn time.

i think more worthy of note here than the steelers winning is the fandamonium from yours truly. pics to prove:




and a bathtub full of alcohol...

in a four star hotel


and that is all i have to say about that.

i think you should know...

...that my favorite beer EVER is now being served on tap at various locations throughout western PA. thank you jacob leinekugel and chippewa falls, wi for providing this humble part of the country with the sweet honey taste of the northwoods. and thank you miller brewing company for buying such a wonderful microbrewery thus allowing it to branch out and share its wonderfulness with an ever increasing part of the country. i am truly grateful to all who have aided in a small taste of home being delivered to my backyard.

now, pittsburgh people...GO GET IT! i know hemingways in oakland has it. probably several other places as well.

google me

question:

why is the most googled subject of my blog the lyrics to Keane's "everybody's changing" which takes you to this entry about a night out in my hometown?

pressure in the Lord's house

my pastor asked me on sunday if i wouldn't mind preparing something to say to the church this coming sunday about the ways the Lord has been working in my life. i was at the same time both honored and confused by such a request. its not everyday that the pastor asks someone to discuss this on a personal level with the congregation but at the same time a part of me felt like i was an unlikely candidate for such a discussion. surely there are people in my church who can talk about what the Lord is doing for them better than i can. surely they have more interesting stories of grandeur than mine. but my pastor feels i'm qualified for the task and so i guess i can't let him down, huh?

its been a while since i've given a speech, or stood in front of a public audience and professed something. so i'm a little nervous. and a part of me is worried i will say the wrong thing, or interpret something wrong, or not have enough support. go me, still feeling like i'm giving a presentation in college or presenting a psych poster in front of a hundred really important PIs who know a hundred times more than me. but its true. when it comes the realm of religion all i know is how i feel, basically. sure it will be really easy for me to make a bulleted list "the Lord is working in my life in this way this way and this way" but i am not at the point where i am able to pull out my bible and open to the Psalms or Gospels and reference how that supports it (i still can't even pull out my bible and locate the appropriate gospel in the appropriate testament). and because of these reasons i'm slightly intimidated to get up in front of all these people who have found their faith long before i have, who live as much better Christians than me, who are a million times more conservative than my liberal minded self and talk about only what my heart is feeling.

and so i ask for your prayers as i prepare whatever it is i decide i'm going to say this sunday. and maybe, perhaps if you feel so inclined, share some way the Lord has been working in your life recently (i promise i won't steal it as my own...) as some encouragement.

blog blog blog blog blog blog blog

i'm adding two new blogs to my list, mostly for my own sanity so i can access them with ease, but feel free to check out Pgh Guy's Online Dating Blog and Mutually Assurred Destruction.

~mandakay