25

So today was J and mine's 25 month-iversary. Don't worry, we don't really celebrate each month but we like to remember it and make it a point to be extra cute :) BUT TODAY, when my roommate came with the mail, there was a mysterious package amongst the envelopes. Being the horribly impatient person that I am, I ripped it open. Kind of. I was deterred by the duct tape and the mailing label. But after that, I managed to extract the surprise and it was....

I was obsessed with this game when I was a little kid and it was the only video game I've actually been good at (besides Mario Kart. Word.) and ever since finding my GameBoy Color a few months ago, I've been keeping an eye out for it. I hadn't had any luck and J knew that I was pretty much fed up with the whole endeavor so he went ahead and found it online :) And it got here just in time. It might seem lame but it was pretty exciting when it happened! Especially considering the fact that I'd been working nonstop from 9-8 on only 4 hours of sleep and was in a less-than-happy mood.

And speaking of crappy days, tomorrow's going to be the longest day of the week. I have a group project with a bunch of people who insist that we be at the library from 7 pm - 1 am on a project that takes maybe three hours :| On the bright side, the next time you'll hear from me, it'll be Friday!!

Wedge and Veg

So I normally don't post recipes for 'real food' because cooking's J's thing. Not mine. I'm more the baker in the relationship BUT tonight, I stumbled across something delicious that I just have to share. My friends, I present: Wedge and Veg.

I'll admit, the recipe's not really mine. When I lived in London, I saw one of my flatmates making this one night and it was so good, I bugged her for the recipe when I came back to the States. I made it once and it didn't turn out so well but I made it again and goodness. gracious. That is all.

So how do you do it?
Cut up as many potatoes as you want any way you want. (See? Not a very good recipe writer). I cut up four Yukon golds in both cube and wedge shapes.
Next, cut up whatever vegetables you want in it. I went for red pepper in wedge shape.
Spread the root vegetables onto a baking sheet covered in foil.
Then, drizzle olive oil over them before adding paprika and curry powder (to taste but you want more rather than less)
Let bake at 425 for about 25 minutes.

THE VEG:
I went ahead and put my pepper into a bowl where I mixed in the spices and the oil. After the potatoes were in for 25 minutes, I put the pepper on top and let it bake for another 15 minutes.

The result?

and it is so delicious, it is just ridiculous. I made it as a snack but I'll probably end up inhaling the whole thing in about an hour.

I'm sorry the recipe is so... lacking but I had to get this out into the universe. You'll thank me for it later.

College Football

Look, I'll be real with you: I go to a college that's not very good at football. For my entire undergraduate career, we've been the butts of jokes. We psych ourselves up for the games but really, we all know how it's going to end. It's always been kind of a bummer being that team. So today, when we went up for our first game against a nationally ranked team, we all knew what was going to happen. We were going to go stand in 100+ heat (FACING THE SUN!!), spend way too much on water bottles and have to sit in unbelievable traffic on the way back, listening to depressing songs and the cheers of the other team.

For most of the game, though, it looked like we were going to win. It was incredible how far ahead we were but we're pretty well-known for letting it all go in the fourth quarter. And we did. The other team caught up and then PASSED us with 4 minutes left. Now, normally, I don't care about things like football. I don't understand it and it kind of makes me annoyed sometimes but today, I couldn't help but watch. It was like a trainwreck, watching people drop the ball and trip over themselves. With a minute left, we made a field goal. 2 point lead. And we held onto it. And we won. WE. WON.

I don't think I can convey how often this never happens. We haven't beat a nationally ranked team since the budget was balanced (and we all know it's been a while). And we rushed the field. And we waited in traffic and spent way too much on water bottles but for once, we were the people cheering. We got to be on top. And it felt pretty good :)

I'll try to get pictures of it up tomorrow but it's been a long day. Beeteedubs, if you're into the kind of sporty stuff, this is a 4 minute summary of what was probably the most stressful hour of my life. Enjoy :)

Thesis Things

Sometimes I write about happy things, sometimes I write about sad things. BUT, I do try to type about things relevant to me because at the end of the day, isn't that what most blogs are? Anyway, the latest adventure I'm launching on is called 'Writing a Thesis'. You see, I'm in the Honors college at my undergraduate institution and as I go into my senior year, I'm expected to write a thesis and defend it in April. If I don't do it, I don't graduate from the Honors college. Almost only counts in horseshoes and something else I've forgotten.

Why am I telling you about this now? Well, today is the lucky day I get to write my thesis statement. Basically, I'm talking about Argentina and Guatemala. Back in the 70s and 80s, they had a rough time politically. Like, they killed a lot of people. But from all this horribleness came a few good things and I'm choosing to focus on one in particular: CSOs created by and for women.

What is a CSO you may ask? Well, its an acronym for Civil Service Organization which you could probably google and understand it better than I do. ANYWAY, it may come as a surprise but with a few token exceptions, women weren't too active in the political climates of their countries, ESPECIALLY in Guatemala where a big chunk of the population didn't even speak Spanish but instead, a language indigenous to their regions. Now, I had known about the Argentine 'Dirty War' from the start of my Latin American Studies education but I had no clue about what had happened in Guatemala. Which is actually horrible. I couldn't read the primary sources in one sitting. I cried a few times. I can honestly say it was emotionally exhausting research. But these groups of women chose to stand up for themselves, and their rights. For the rights of their children and their disappeared/deceased families. They truly are inspirational. The Madres are relatively well-known in the international community but the Guatemalan widows are still largely confined to Guatemala. They don't receive aid. No one really knows about them despite the fact that over 200,000 indigenous peoples were killed just because. Over a quarter of a million children were left orphaned. And it's not even considered a genocide despite the fact that what happened to these people more than qualifies it for that term.

Basically, my thesis is focusing on answering the question: why? Why did they develop so differently? I'm procrastinating writing this in fancy terms AND, if you happen to be desperate for a thesis idea, I already turned in the proposal so people would know if you stole it! HOWEVER, if for some reason you want to know about either of these groups or their histories, feel free to do some Googler-research but just be warned: it isn't happy.

MOVING ON, the first football game of the season is Friday which, coincidentally is the day I have to go out of town to pick up the pottery J and I painted on our anniversary. Wait, did I tell you what we did for our 2 year? No? I'll get to that soon, I promise :)

Happy sleepings, everyone!

Baby Neville

Hello blogging world! I'm sorry for being so sporadic with my updates. I was reading through my travel blog and got super depressed about the fact that I didn't do such a great job updating it and therefore, probably forgot a lot of details I might have remembered had I blogged. But that's life! ANYWAY, I have returned to announce the newest addition to my life: Baby Neville

I know that's not the most flattering picture but he's a live wire and refuses to hold still for more than 5 minutes. Well, that's not entirely true. He is a cuddler. At 4 months old, his favorite thing to do is crawl into your lap and fall asleep. He likes to sleep in beds, watch TV with you, plop himself down on your keyboard when you're trying to work... you know, kitten stuff :) He was supposed to be a resident of my college apartment but, unfortunately, long-term pets are not allowed here so, after rescuing him from the pound, Amelia and I didn't have the heart to send him back. Especially since it was pretty clear that he loves people and has horrible separation anxiety. SO, my parents offered to take him in.

Now, he loves with his new brother, Sirius and the two mostly get along. They fight, they cuddle, no bigs.

Moving On

I try to not be one of those people who live in the past. Really. For the longest time, I held on to my senior year of high school like it was the last donut in a Shipley's (I know they're horrible for you, but I am a fan). It wasn't until about halfway through my college career that I realized it was becoming increasingly difficult to cling to something that had already happened while trying to blaze forward. So, I figured, in order to enjoy the present, I was going to have to appreciate it. Maybe every moment wouldn't be my greatest but it would always be that irreplaceable moment that would never happen again. And I'm glad I did let go because my junior year was pretty fantastic. In fact, looking back on it, 99% of my college career was amazing.

But now, going into my senior year, there is another something I can't quite seem to let go.

o

I fell in love with this city. With this crazy, wonderful, now-rioting city. And I absolutely loved my semester there. Now, frying in this INSANE Texas heat (highs of 110!), I can't help but fantasize about the cold, and the snow and boots and scarves.

I know I don't want to spend my senior year lingering on things and people and places 2000 miles away but I figured I'd pay it one last homage before I finally put it behind me and carried on.

Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday, everyone! Tomorrow is J's and mine's anniversary and today will be a day full of making J's anniversary present, baking some delicious cooking strawberry cheesecake cupcakes. I'll let you know how they turn out (both of them!) Very domestic of me, no?