First Internship Interview!

Tomorrow is my first meeting with a school psychologist about a possible practicum and internship site!  I'm NERVOUS!  In the town I am interviewing a lot of school psychs have lost their jobs so many of them don't know if they will be around when my internship comes around, unfortunately.  So, therefore, I am not expecting to get the position but I am looking forward to the internship experience!

Wish me luck! :)

Crock Pot Broccoli Rabe and Chicken with Beans

Yesterday I came home from work midday, needing to get two 15-page papers written, knowing my fiancee would not be home in time to cook dinner for us.  I was desperate for something quick and  easy, preferably something I could throw in the crock pot and forget about until dinner time.  I did not have any chicken or beef stock on hand.  However, I created something that did come out delicious, albeit "too healthy" for the fiance.  Here goes:

To create the broth, I poured in a third of the juice from a jar of marinated jalapenos along with two cups of water, a bay leaf, salt and pepper, some steak seasoning, a can of red beans with most, but not all, of the liquid drained, some cooking vermouth, half a bottle of marsala wine, and a couple dashes of hot sauce.  I chopped up a handful of the jalapenos, a bunch of broccoli rabe, 5 cloves of garlic, and threw in a package of chicken tenderloins.  I cooked this on high for 4 hours.  Note to self, next time I would probably throw the chicken in once everything else had been cooking for two hours.  The chicken did get slightly dry but all in all, the taste was delicious.  I cooked some wheat penne pasta to the point of aldente and threw everything on top of that, garnished with some Parmesan cheese.  Bon appetit!  The fiancee said the sauce was so yummy he would use it to marinade chicken.  I think I shall save him some ;)

Blowing up Potatoes

Well I just scared the crap out of myself for the second time in my recent lifetime.  I hope you all know that when you cook potatoes, and this probably goes for any which way you cook potatoes when you keep them whole, that you should puncture them with a fork or something to allow for heat and moisture to escape?  Yeah, wish I had thought of that before I put mine in the oven...

I decided to bake whole potatoes tonight so I put them in a 350 degree oven for over an hour and let them cook...without puncturing them.  The timer went off at the one hour mark so I proceeded to pull one out by hand with an oven glove on.  With my left pointer finger, I decided to touch the surface of the hot potato to see how tender it was.  That's when it blew up in my face.  Literally.  The potato opened up and exploded right before my very eyes!  Luckily it did not land on me and I did not get burned.  But the inside of my oven is covered with potato innards and I think it will take a good 20 more minutes before my heart rate returns to normal...Next time I will go the extra step and poke the damn things with a fork before baking them.

Thank you to my new readers! :)

Just wanted to give a quick thanks to my new readers, I have noticed the numbers of readers increasing which is very exciting for me!  Let me know if there is anything specific you want to hear about, any recipes you would like me to provide, or any questions you may have!  Please feel free to comment with any suggestions, ideas, or responses to my posts.  I appreciate it!

Wedding Progress

Well, we have looked at two wedding venues and have selected where to have our big day! The first venue we looked at, I knew it was the one.  We were walking through the room the reception would be in and I got so overcome with emotion that I actually teared up!  There are three fireplaces, which will be perfect for our winter wedding.  The place is very nice, there is a huge bar area for cocktail hour, which is included in the price of the place.  There is open bar for 5.5 hours.  What I really love about the place is the DJ comes with the venue, the DJ booth is built into the room so it looks very clean and not messy.  There are flat screen tv's around the room so nobody has to crane their neck to see what's going on.  The DJ controls what is going on on the tv's.  If you book the photographer the venue contracts with, the DJ can play the ceremony photos during dinner.  You also get free invitations and a discount.  Also, the way the speakers are set up, the music on the dance floor is nice and loud but quiet at the tables, which is pretty amazing.  People can actually hear each other speak during dinner.  The floral centerpieces come with the venue.  The limo to take the girls to the venue is included.  The cake is included!  The appetizers during cocktail hour are nonstop as long as people are eating them still.  The best thing about the place is when you book a winter wedding, the honeymoon is free!  I am so excited!

We are still looking for a photographer and videographer, haven't even started that search yet.  We still have a bunch of planning to do but I feel like booking this place will give us a great headstart!  Very exciting stuff! :)

We got a kitten!

At the end of November 2009 my fiancee and I got a kitten!  We actually were not engaged yet at this point.  We went to a nearby animal shelter and got ourselves a kitten.  I was looking for a male tiger kitten, or at least one with stripes.  Instead, we ended up with a black kitten that the fiancee picked.  This kitten was most playful, not stuck-up, liked to be held, and was very fun when we played with him!  When we got him, he was 2 months old and weighed 2 pounds!  He was very cute. 

Now that he is getting older, almost 6 months and definitely a lot heavier (although still thin and not a fat cat!) one can notice that he actually has stripes!  His fur is really a dark brown with lighter brown stripes.  He is still very playful: he loves water.  He will play in the bathtub or kitchen sink.  He loves to sit on the bathroom counter while I get ready in the morning. 

He loves to play with pens and highlighters, so he is a very happy cat when I am doing my schoolwork.

I bought him a little kitty condo that is two levels he loves to hang out in.

It was very interesting when we got our Christmas tree this year.  We got a fake one on purpose because we didn't want him to eat the pine needles off a real tree.  Well, this little kitten was climbing that tree every day.  He would also hide under it and when you walked by would pounce out from under it with his front paws out like superman.  Below is a picture of the kitten inside the tree, attempting to get electrocuted. 

Laundry day is his favorite, especially when the laundry is still warm.

Master's Degree is on the way!

In June of this year I will be graduating from Capella University with my Master's degree in School Psychology!  How exciting!  It's been a long road.  I can recall starting the program in April 2008 and thinking there was no light at the end of the tunnel.  Now within a few months I will have my degree, and have managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA!  Hopefully that will continue through the two courses I am taking now and my master's final project! 

Once I have my master's I will immediately return to school to obtain my Educational Specialist Certificate, which one needs in order to practice as a school psychologist in my state.  That will take me another year and includes a 6-month practicum and one school year internship.  I am currently looking for sites now.  Exciting! :)