3-41 Rifle Ball

Last night was our first ball with the new battalion.

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It's so fun to get glammed up. But I didn't take many pictures this time.

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Part of the grog ceremony, which is always one of my favorite parts.

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Me with Marian, the Sergeant Major's wife. She is the awesomest person ever and we have several mutual friends from Lewis so it was SO cool we ended up in this battalion. =)

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Hubby and me, although WHY does it appear that I'm not looking at the camera? And we decided not to do professional photos this time too. Sigh.

This ball was kind of an odd one for me since at our last one back in WA, I had so many friends there I barely had time to say hi to them all, whereas this one I only knew 2 people. And I was also the only girl at our table, but it was full of young Privates who were mostly from Andrew's platoon and they were quite entertaining. In some ways soldiers take a long time to grow up. ;-) Anyway, it was a fun night. I'm looking forward to many more events with our new battalion!

Fall TV

I thought I'd give food a rest and talk about what I think of the fall TV line-up. It's no secret I don't have much of a life right now due to not having a car or a job and school not starting til January, so my days consist of keeping the house clean, finding yummy recipes to cook and bake, organizing projects, and DVRing any show that sounds interesting. Heh heh.

So here are my opinions on what I'm watching these days, both new shows and ones I've been watching for years.

MONDAYS

Dancing with the Stars

Other than JR, the former soldier who came back from Iraq severely burned after an incident with an IED and has become a well-known motivational speaker, this season has been pretty bleh to me. If JR doesn't make it to the end (and he should, because he is an excellent dancer, let alone amazing person), I'll probably stop watching because I don't like most of the rest of the cast. Horrible dancers like Chaz Bono, who looks like he's never done a lick of exercise in his life and doesn't deserve to be left on the show week after week just because he's had a gender change, are being saved and good ones are going home.

How I Met Your Mother

As legen--wait for it!--dary as ever.

2 Broke Girls

The amusing previews and unusual premise made me want to check this one out. I am really enjoying it so far. But it needs more plot development or it's going to crash and burn very quickly. A show can't survive on the main characters tossing one-liners at each other alone. The conclusion is that I'm going to keep watching but if it doesn't get more organized soon, I'll probably get bored. By the way, it's refreshing to see a main character of a sitcom who is neither extremely overweight or a size 2...because let's face it, that's nearly always Hollywood's only options. "America is tired of unrealistic skinny girls? Okay, let's have one who is unhealthily overweight to make them feel better about themselves!"

Two and a Half Men

We've always only watched re-runs of this show, but all the furor over Charlie Sheen's meltdowns and the announcement the show was continuing without him made us curious. So we checked out the premiere, and discovered the show can actually work without Sheen. Ashton Kutcher is hilarious. I'm sure it won't last forever but I'm glad the show sent a message to egotistical, self-destructive actors that they aren't as indispensable as they might think they are.

TUESDAYS

NCIS

The same good show as ever! 

Raising Hope

My friend Amy got me into this show last year, and Andrew likes it too because the humor reminds him of one of his favorite shows, My Name is Earl. It's cute, wildly eccentric, and funny.

Glee

I seriously only watch this show because of the awesome singing and dancing. And occasionally it makes me laugh.

Unforgettable

This is one of my favorites of the brand new shows. I love Poppy Montgomery and I love the show's premise, about a police detective with an very rare disorder that allows her to never forget anything she's ever seen. I got interested in it when I heard it's actually a real disorder: it's called HSAM (highly superior autobiographical memory). Another actress has HSAM and serves as a consultant on the show. Anyway, it's good and I hope it sticks around!

Body of Proof

This show is kinda dumb and tries too hard to be funny. But yet I keep watching it, mostly because I enjoy seeing the medical examiner side of things. Once I get super busy again it'll probably be one of the first ones I drop. 

WEDNESDAYS

Criminal Minds

What can I say? It remains my favorite show. I'm glad the crew is back together again. I do have one minor complaint for the show's writers though--why are they always showing us who the perp is from the very beginning now? I don't like that. I've been watching re-runs from old seasons on A&E and I preferred how you wouldn't know the guilty person until near the end. Oh well. It's still completely awesome.

Law & Order: SVU

I was upset when they announced Stabler was leaving and Benson was only doing a few episodes. However, I decided to give it a chance, and the result is that I'm sure I'll keep watching. They are handling the transition of the new detectives very well. I'll miss the Stabler/Benson duo very much, but at least the new duo is promising.

CSI (Las Vegas)

Another show I only watch if I have time. But it's entertaining, and the new guy is interesting.

THURSDAY

Big Bang Theory

Love, love, love. As always.

Person of Interest

This is another show that caught my eye for its unusual premise. A super computer system that watches everyone and can tell they are going to be involved in some kind of crime. But it doesn't know whether the person is the perpetrator or the victim, and that is Jim Caviezel's character's job to find out and then stop the crime from happening. It's sort of sci-fi as far as the super computer is concerned, but the rest works out more like a crime thriller. It's interesting.

FRIDAY

CSI:NY

Gary Sinise is such a good guy. His show makes me roll my eyes very often. But it's probably my favorite of the CSIs. 

SUNDAY

Dexter

We got Showtime free for a few months with our new cable set-up, and since I was just finishing up the seasons of Dexter out on DVD, it worked out perfectly to start watching the new season. Dexter isn't for everyone, but I find it fascinating.

Pan Am

This show is so pretty. I'm enjoying it so far; we'll see where it goes.

So...that's it. Please don't judge my excessive TV watching during this brief period in my life. ;-)

Deep-Dish Pizza!

Last night I tried a recipe for deep-dish pizza that I had pinned on Pinterest a few weeks ago. We gave it two thumbs up!

The recipe was from The Comfort of Cooking. If you want to see a picture, click on the link because after waiting 3 hours for it to be done (due to circumstances I wasn't able to start the dough rising til 5pm), we were in too much of a hurry to eat it for me to grab my camera! I've never tried deep-dish pizza before but it was quite easy. I made mine in a 9-inch pie plate and it worked perfectly. The dough was soft and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside, the toppings were perfect (although I wish I would've had some fresh basil), and...it was just yum. I was also happy with the thriftyness of the recipe because it makes enough dough for 2 pizzas and only uses half package of Italian sausage! Also, I had some leftover for lunch today. I put the other half of the dough in the freezer as the recipe mentions, and I'm excited to make it again and play with some more toppings. =)

Here's the recipe:

Pizza Dough
Makes 2 pizza crusts

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 envelope yeast

Directions
Add the yeast to the warm water and set aside for 5 minutes.

Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and olive oil. Stir the yeast into the water and make sure it’s all dissolved. Add it to the flour mixture. Mix until everything is combined, and knead with a dough machine or by hand for about 8 minutes.

Oil two bowls lightly with olive oil and set aside. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll into balls. Place each ball into the oiled bowls, seam side down, and brush the tops with a little olive oil. Top each bowl with plastic wrap or a clean, dry towel and place the dough in a warm place (I use a turned-off oven). Let rise 2 hours.

Once risen, use the dough or wrap in plastic wrap, then a plastic baggie, and freeze or refrigerate.

Deep Dish Sausage Pizza with Spinach Salad
Serves 4


Ingredients
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 ounces Italian sausage, casings removed
12 ounces pizza dough, homemade or frozen store bought, at room temperature
1/2 pound mozzarella, grated (2 cups)
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a pan and cook sausage over medium heat until browned, 6-7 minutes. As it cooks, break the sausage into crumbles with a potato masher (this makes it much easier!) or large spoon. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

Heat oven to 400° F. Coat a 9-inch oven-proof skillet or cake pan with 1 ½ tablespoons of the oil. Stretch and press the dough into the pan, covering the bottom and sides. Top with half the mozzarella, then the tomatoes, oregano, and remaining mozzarella.

Scatter the crumbled sausage over the pizza. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.

Concerts and Comedy

Last week I had the amazing opportunity to see the Afters, Sanctus Real, and Casting Crowns in concert as a part of their Come to the Well tour. They were incredible!

I mostly went for Sanctus Real, even though they only sang about 5 songs. I have been a fan of them ever since I started listening to Christian music a lot, but their latest album, "Pieces of a Real Heart," has meant the most to me. It came out at a time in my life when I was struggling a lot spiritually and emotionally, and every song on that album blessed me in some way. But it was great to see Casting Crowns, one of the first artists I started listening to when I started going "rebellious" and listening to that "devil music with a beat," and The Afters as well.

The Afters were on first. Here they are belting out "Never Going Back to OK."

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Sanctus Real next. Awesome guys.

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This is not the most flattering picture of him, but I think I might have a wee bit of a musician crush on Matt, the lead singer. Is that allowed? ;-)

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Here's my favorite song of theirs, "I'm Forgiven," which they performed at the concert.

Casting Crowns was last. They are fantastic live, and I will definitely be downloading their new album when it comes out. The songs they sang from it were great.

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Overall, a great night. If you enjoy Christian music, check to see if the Come to the Well tour is coming to a town near you!

On Friday night, Andrew and I went to a comedy show at the club on post. I won tickets by answering a question correctly on the Ft. Bliss MWR's Facebook page. I didn't care for two of the acts; although they did make me laugh plenty, they just weren't the kind of comedians I enjoy. But the 2nd act I thoroughly enjoyed. The comedian was Steve Hofstetter and he is hilarious. He does use profanity a lot, but he is not nasty just for the point of being nasty (which is why I hate the majority of comedians--is normal life not easy enough to make fun of without resorting to non-stop filth?). Here's a good bit of his if you've never heard of him:

Anyway, it was a fun week for live entertainment!

Cheap Meals

This morning I posted on Facebook about a show I watched on the Food Network called "Sandra's Money-Saving Meals," where the hostess made a meal for $20 (without even using something expensive like steak or seafood!) and called it budget-friendly. I'm sure her show might be helpful to some people who aren't used to cooking at home and need to start with some baby steps. But it sparked some fun discussion on my status about what we all typically spend on groceries a month and how much our average meals cost. It varied, but one thing we all agreed on is that $20 is NOT money-saving for the average family for a weekday meal! =)

Anyway, I am not at all an expert when it comes to sticking to a budget for grocery shopping. Andrew can certainly attest to the fact that I have blown way too much money on groceries too many times to count! My problem has always been not sticking to meal-planning consistently, as when I don't meal-plan, I go haphazardly through the grocery store grabbing everything that inspires me, top that off with the ingredients for a few recipes I'm wanting to try, and then faint when I get to the register and see the total. Add another fainting session when at the end of the week I realize that a special vegetable I bought for a certain recipe was forgotten about and is rotting in my veggie drawer because I got distracted with all the other cool things I bought. It's really appalling. =)

Now that I have more time on my hands, I'm working on being consistent in the thrifty habits that I know work if I use them. I am still spending more than I would like right now because there are a lot of items that I keep as staples in my pantry/fridge that had to be thrown out when we moved, and I'm slowly replacing them. Moving sucks! But it is still encouraging to break down my grocery bills and see how much our meals are actually costing me. And on average, mine cost about $3 to $6 depending on what meat I'm using. Speaking of meat, I like to buy it in bulk. Last week, I bought a big package of chicken leg quarters and a big pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for a total of $20, and that worked out to enough meat for 8 meals. Nice!

I can attribute my ability to make cheap meals mostly to the fact that I grew up cooking for my family of 12. Cooking was one of my daily chores and it was one chore I didn't mind having! However, we couldn't afford fancy ingredients or expensive cuts of meat, or any of the processed ingredients that can make cooking easy. I learned how to work magic on chicken, ground beef/turkey, beans, and cheap cuts of pork, even if the recipe I was trying called for something we couldn't afford or keep in the pantry.

This is a meal my mom found originally and I still make periodically to this day. It is cheap, delicious, and not at all bad for you! =)

Salisbury "Steaks"

Break up 1lb of lean ground beef into a bowl. Add 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs or 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, a sprinkle of garlic powder, 1 beaten egg, and a generous sprinkling of parsley.

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Mix and form patties. Place the patties in a heated deep frying pan. If the beef is very lean add a bit of oil to the pan to keep them from burning.

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Cook the burgers for about 4 minutes on each side, then take them out and put on a plate.
Add 2 cups of beef broth to the pan. Stir to deglaze the pan and let the broth heat up til almost ready to boil. Dissolve a few tablespoons of cornstarch in half a cup of water and slowly stir into the broth a little at a time until it has reached the thickness you want. If you accidentally get it too thick, just add a little water.

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Add the burgers back into the pan and reduce the heat to low.

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Cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until burgers are cooked through. Add a bit of salt to the gravy if needed. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta. Yummy!

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A few notes: This meal probably cost me around $4, and made enough for 3 people (meaning I had leftovers for lunch the next day!). You can use ground turkey instead of ground beef (just switch the beef broth to chicken), and also add mushrooms and onions. Also, I use chicken and beef broth a LOT. I would spend a lot of money on it if I hadn't discovered "Better than Bouillon" organic condensed stock. Costco has jars of both chicken and beef  for about $6 each that make 78 cups of stock. The grocery store carries a smaller jar that makes 38 cups of stock for $4. It's not quite as convenient as the bottles/cans of stock, since you have to dissolve the "gel" in hot water first, but the price makes it more than worthwhile!

Kitteh can haz tuna?

Cats have amazing noses. Ever since Reilly smelled me opening a can of sardines a few months ago (yes, I like sardines--don't judge), he has associated the sound of cans opening with the scent of fish, and he comes running. If he can't hear the can opening, but it's some kind of seafood, his nose will tell him to come running.

Tonight he was sleeping in our bedroom and I was in the kitchen making dinner. I got out two cans of tuna, opened one, and then went in the living room to say to Andrew, "I just opened up some tuna; I wonder how long it will take Reilly to come running."

The words were barely out of my mouth when here comes Reilly from the bedroom, looking all expectant! LOL He followed me into the kitchen and gave me pleading looks and did his loud, special I-want-fish meow until I gave him a bit.

 

I love cats!

Wine festival!

This weekend was the Harvest Wine Festival in Las Cruces, New Mexico (about an hour away)! We decided to go today. Andrew is not a huge wine drinker--he would much rather have a beer--but he took me anyway and by the end of the day he was even choosing his own samples and critiquing them. I was proud of him. ;-)

From Texas Army Adventure

It was a little on the hot side today--around 100--but I must say, it's rather a nice change to go to an outdoor festival and be able to count on not freezing your butt off or getting rained on. Haha

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It wasn't unpleasantly busy, which was nice. We picked a good day to go.

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Getting my sampling on! Our $15 tickets included a wine glass to do all our drinking in, plus free tastes at all of the wine vendors' booths. I thought that was a pretty good deal.

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Yummy fresh quesadillas for lunch! Andrew refused to let me take a picture of him for this because he said there was nothing special about it, but I argued that since this is the first time we've gotten fresh Mexican food at a festival/fair, it was worth documenting. He doesn't get pictures sometimes. ;-)

From Texas Army Adventure

So many yummy wines to try! I'm no wine expert but I'd say New Mexico does a pretty good job at representing in the wine industry.

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Andrew tried a wine slushie! I'm a little bummed I forgot to try one myself before we left.

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From Texas Army Adventure

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The bottles that came home with me. I could've bought so much more! But these were two of my favorites. A semi-sweet white wine (Symphony) that had been named best of the festival and a sweet red that I particularly loved.

It was a fun day and I'm looking forward to going again next year! I also made sure to bring a bunch of brochures home with me so I can visit the wineries themselves, perhaps with some girlfriends!

Happy Finds

Yesterday I went on my first Costco trip since moving to Texas. I love Costco. There are a lot of things I buy in bulk there, particularly my cooking/baking basics like flour, sugar, stock, meat, rice, butter, etc. Anyway, I've noticed every Costco is a little different. At this one I was overjoyed to find these two items:

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Grapeseed oil and quinoa!

I've been using grapeseed oil as my only cooking oil for a couple years now. It's the healthiest oil out there and, unlike olive oil, is also mild enough to use in baking recipes. I was so excited to find a 2 liter bottle for $7.98! As for quinoa, I've been trying to find it for awhile, after trying it and liking at a friend's house. El Paso is not exactly the capital of healthy eating enthusiasts, so I was afraid I was going to have to order it online, but lo and behold! This 4lb bag for $9. I'm really looking forward to trying some recipes I've been finding and using it to occasionally replace my never-failing side of starch every dinner.

I also discovered they carry Greek yogurt for a good price! I love Greek yogurt. I didn't get it this time though since I still have some in my fridge.But my health-nutty side was definitely satisfied by yesterday's trip to Costco!

I also ran into Ross and Marshall's and found some of the organizational items I had on my Container Store wishlist for fixing up my kitchen. I love Ross and Marshall's!

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Pictures to follow when I've used these to get my chaotic kitchen drawers and a few cabinets in order!

Wine in miniature

 

These are so perfect for trips and hotel stays where you may not have access to a wine opener! And who doesn't love miniature versions of delicious things? =)

I have the organizing bug!

Do you have any idea how exasperating it is to have caught the organizing bug when all your household goods are currently crammed in boxes on a moving truck somewhere between Washington and Texas? Auggghhhhh!

As much as I've been looking forward to having my stuff back, a little part of me was dreading it. We don't have a ton of stuff as far as furniture goes, but we do have a lot of other stuff (ie, clothes, Army gear, books, camping equipment, papers, etc.). Our new house has a few rooms that are the same size or bigger than our old one, such as the kitchen, living room, and bathroom, but the rest of it is going to provide more of a challenge and truth to be told, I've been worrying about trying to fit into a slightly smaller space.

That changed when I found IHeart Organizing and discovered there are plenty of ways to make a small space work! The key is to organize that space effectively. =) I have found so many perfect ideas and put a handful of cheap organization items in wish lists online so I can order them and get to work right away when our stuff arrives. Here are some areas I'm excited to work in the most:

1) KITCHEN
As I mentioned, our new kitchen is a good size with a lot of cabinet space. However, being a cooking and baking enthusiast, I have a TON of kitchen stuff. And if I don't purchase some tools to keep it all displayed and stored effectively, I'm going to feel like I'm bursting out of the seams again. Particular collections I need to work on are my pots and pans, baking pans, plastic food containers, and herbs/spices. I have plans for all of them! For example, I'm getting 2 of these for my herb/spice collection:

 2) PAPER
Oh my gosh, we have SO MUCH PAPER everywhere in our house! I have always sucked at keeping paper organized. We have one small and overflowing file cabinet that we may not have room for now, so I am going to clean that out and utilize a binder system instead that can be stored on our bookshelves. I'm also going to come up with a better system for sorting and storing things that come in the mail. And one more thing that is a top priority: magazines! One whole bookshelf in our bookcase is taken up by several years' worth of Real Simple and In Style magazines! Ridiculous. =) I'm going to go through them all, tear out any pages I want to save (both magazines have lots of ideas and pictures I would like to have filed somewhere for reference), store them in an indexed binder, and then get rid of the magazines. If I make a habit of doing that as magazines arrive in the mail, I'll never have to deal with this problem again. I've already done this with a cooking magazine I subscribed to for awhile, and it has worked out amazingly. Plus I actually end up trying the recipes. Go figure! ;-)

3) BEDROOM
Our new master bedroom is a little smaller than our old one, and the closet is definitely smaller. However, it's still a good-sized closet and if both mine and Andrew's stuff won't fit in there comfortably, it obviously means I have too many clothes. =P I've gotten a lot of ideas for making the most out of a small closet space, so I'm excited to implement them and do some more purging. I've also decided I'm going to sell my cedar chest. It's this model exactly:

It makes me kind of sad to think of getting rid of it, because I wanted one for a long time growing up, finally got it for my birthday about a year before I got married, and used it to store stuff for my future house. But...we are not going to have room for it, and it's not the finish I would pick now. Cherry completely clashes with all of my black furniture and it has bugged me for awhile. One day I'll get another one, in a lighter finish so that it complements the rest of my decor.

So, as you can see I have my work cut out for me! =) But I have the next few months off from work or school, which makes this a great way to use my time. I will be putting up pictures and status reports of my progress, so stay tuned!

8 Foods I really wish I liked

I grew up a rather picky eater. Some foods I have learned to like, mostly because of trying it cooked in different ways at restaurants or in my own kitchen, like mashed potatoes, eggs, zucchini, and broccoli. But there are some foods I have always despised and apparently always will. Some foods I don't really care that I don't like. Others, I really really wish I liked them because they always seem to put so much flavor in recipes. Not to mention it severely limits my restaurant dish choices sometimes!

Here's a list of foods I hate but really really wish I liked.

1) Corn.
Corn is probably my most hated food. I almost have a psychological fear of corn. No matter how it's cooked, I despise it. I can barely stand to look at this picture. I can force myself to eat it if I'm served it at someone's house, but it takes a lot of willpower. I've also never tried corned beef because it has the word "corn" in it.

2) Celery.
Gross. I hate the flavor, I hate the crunch.

3) Olives
Chopped olives in a dish are a sure way to have me shuddering with horror.

4) Onions
Now, onions can be a little complicated. Overall, I don't like them. I refuse to eat them raw. I can tolerate them in dishes if they are cooked down to mush. I will occasionally add them to soups and stews because I like the flavor and they help tenderize meat, but I either leave them in huge chunks so I can pick them out easily, or make sure they're chopped so fine I won't notice them once they're cooked down. With onions it's more of a texture thing with me than a flavor. Also, I do like green onions, surprisingly enough. I can't explain why.

5) Cucumbers
I have tried cucumbers so many times, determined to like them. I like most vegetables, so why not cucumbers? But it's impossible. I just can't like them.

6) Avocado
Again, another food I have tried over and over again hoping I'll like it, yet I never do. I feel especially lame when I go to a Mexican restaurant and order my meal with no guacamole. I'm pretty sure they walk back to the kitchen thinking, "Stupid American white girl, why is she even here??" and I don't blame them one bit.

7) Peppers
It makes me really sad that I don't like peppers. There are so many recipes I find with almost no ingredients besides peppers and I can never make them. But alas, peppers remain yuck on my palate.

8) Thyme
Thyme is technically an herb, not a food. But I think it counts. I'm crazy about herbs and spices. But I was surprised when I discovered that any dish I put thyme in was ruined for me. I've had to come to the sad realization that I just don't like the flavor of thyme, and it's not worth it to keep ruining dishes in an attempt to change that.

I'm in Texas

Well, we have been here in Texas for a little over a week now. I haven't taken many pictures yet, so this is going to be a photo-less entry. I apologize.

* We have a place...a 2-bedroom duplex with a good-sized kitchen and living room and a cute patio. Overall it's a little on the small side but our BAH (housing allowance) is really low here and since we can't live on post this time around, we need a place with rent enough below BAH that we can include utilities and cable/internet. In a couple months we'll be able to afford a 2nd car, which will be so nice.

* However, we are not in said place yet since the movers have decided to take their sweet time in getting our stuff to us. Hopefully by this time next week we will have it but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I sure miss my stuff! And I miss cooking! I've gotten obsessed with watching the Food Network since there hasn't been much else to do in the hotel, and it's getting me really antsy to get back in the kitchen!

* So far I think I'm going to like El Paso. The mountains are beautiful and you can see them almost no matter where you are. The neighborhoods you can see from the main highway are pretty scary, but once you get off and get farther away from it, there's plenty of really nice neighborhoods, restaurants, and shopping. I can't WAIT to save up some spending money and go to the fantastic outlet mall that has everything an outlet mall should have--I've never been this close to one before. We've already tried one yummy Mexican restaurant and have a few more on the list to visit. There's so much to do over the next few months: a wine festival (we're near some great New Mexico wineries!), a free Chopin concert festival, an air show with the Blue Angels, New Mexico state fair and rodeo, etc.

* Ft. Bliss is nice too. The Freedom Crossing (PX, commissary, movie theater, restaurants, etc.) completely lived up to my expectations. I've never seen anything so nice on a military installation. We did decide though that Ft. Lewis had more superior gyms. The one here is nice but is lacking in a few areas.

* We thought Andrew was getting put in a training unit, but when he signed in he got put in 1st Stryker Brigade, 1st Armored Division. We're both okay with that. We've heard good things about this unit. The infantry life is what I'm used to and I handle it just fine. I'm looking forward to volunteering for the FRG again if they need anything!

* I hate to end on a not-so-positive note, but it must be said...I really miss my friends. =( I had the best group of girls ever at Lewis! Words can't express how much it sucks to not have them around anymore. And I'd better stop now before the waterworks start!