so precious

Wordless Wednesday

100% of Urban Prep going to 4-year university or college

timeless

someday?

I'm such a wimp

I don't know if I could handle  this sequel, the original scared the piss out of me!



for reference, the original trailer:

Brand new.....well, kinda....mostly.

In about 3 to 4 weeks I will moving...again. I have moved at least once a year since summer of 2003. For one reason or another I have either wanted to move or had to move. I have only been in my current residence since the first of May. But due to unforseen circumstances both personally and with the rental company that owns the house I'm leaving in, I am going to be moving with one of my best friends, Blake, to a new apartment. She and I have lived together before and I am excited to be living with someone again who is so easy to live with. Although I haven't lived in an apartment in years.....

But you know what is most exciting? I get to decorate a whole new bedroom and half of a living/dining room. Very fun! I'm mostly excited because I have all these great new ideas and plans - a lot of which involve crafting/making stuff myself. Mostly because I have a minuscule budget, but also because I am obsessed with how-to blogs lately. Added bonus, no man to be fussy about what is in the room. Not being limited to black, dark gold, dark garnet or dark blue is very freeing! Mind you I also enjoy those colors, but times are a changing and a new leaf is being turned over.

I have a king size bed, so this limits me on furniture, but I am a minimalist when it comes to furniture in the bedroom, even when I don't have a walk-in closet anymore :( I have one dresser and a small/medium desk, but other than that, that's pretty much it. One thing that I definitely want is more art. Whether it be photography, sculpture, painting, or whatever. I have a few likes so far. I want to hang them behind the bed or over the dresser. I haven't decided what I'm going to put up, but I have a few choices so far. Opinions?

magnolia, bronzed 3-piece sculptures

trees, set of 2

water

sunset

in the lead for favorite

so exciting!

love!

Well, it's already the almost end of June and still haven't found a new bathing suit/bikini I wanted to buy for this year's swimsuit season. I guess I should just hold off at this point. It saves me me money doing that, right? I'll just keep telling myself that as I keep passing on buying one. But damn, if I saw this one below somewhere, I wouldn't be able to stop myself:

God, I think she is gorgeous, and that suit! Course I would never look like model Crystal Rehn in anything I wore, haha.

Well, there's always next year

Sad to say, but FSU was eliminated from the CWS. The boys are heading back to town as we speak. The looks on the faces were heartbreaking. I, of course, was a nervous wreck watching the whole time and was a little heartbroken as well.At least we were able to eliminate the evil Gators from their chances at the Championship, haha.
Okay, maybe evil isn't the correct term, but they are biggest rival that FSU has and I will always take great joy in beating them in whatever sport.
To be honest I felt the worst for this man:

 Poor Coach Mike Martin. 14th trip to the CWs and still has yet to get a championship. I have to say that he has been very gracious and humble the entire time. You would be hard-pressed to find a classier coach in baseball. He has a large amount of poise and respectfulness that most would only hope to achieve. I also have to give it up to the boys who acted like men after their tough loss

We love you boys, thank you for keeping Tallahassee classy.

even though some may say this is bordering on animal cruelty

I still think it's adorable/hilarious

Oh dear...

Well, I'm in trouble. I am truly in love with the website Piperlime. And right now there is a summer sale and there are SO MANY shoes that I want. For example:

Can you tell that I am a *wee* bit obsessed with wedges right now?

Sigh..... I am 10 days from payday and really don't have it in the budget for new shoes even if they are ALL on sale and at least 40-60% off. With free shipping. And no tax.

Ugh.

Pet Peeves

I know I am not the only one here who has a list of Pet Peeves that absolutely drive them nuts. One of mine is when people pull into a parking space and leave absolutely no room to the person parked to the right of them to get into their own vehicle's driver side door.
This happened to me today as I attempted to get into my car and go to lunch. The Escalade to the left of me had parked so close to me that literally the only space between the two of us was the width of my side mirror. Here I am parked well within my lines and this truck is not only crossed over into my space over the lines, but has now completely prevented me from even getting my HAND to my car door. So what do I do? I wrote a note on post it I had handy asking them to please be more mindful of space limitations and that I was unable to get into my vehicle at lunch today. I even left my name (I park in a gated employee only lot so everyone knows everyone). I wasn't rude or tactless, but considering this Escalade is a repeat offender to not only myself, but to others around me, I had NO problem leaving my name in hopes they would contact me so that I could talk to them.
Urgh, that REALLY grinds my gears.

Mmmm, mmm, good!

Feeling motivated when I arrived home today after work I decided to be adventuress and try to "create" a new recipe for myself:

3. try a new recipe/food each week

I knew what I wanted the "base" food to be; chicken. I love eating chicken. I could probably eat it everyday and not get sick of it. At least it's a lot healthier then macaroni and cheese( which by the way I could eat everyday as well). I also have to consider my restrictive diet. I have this "diet" for two reasons. One, is I obviously would like to keep an eye on my weight. And two, because I have an unusual amount of food allergies/ no-nos from my doctor that could upset some stomach issues I have. Of course majority of the foods that are no-nos are DELICIOUS. I miss macaroni :( The small list of restrictions include carbs that contain gluten (pasta/bread), raw onions, melon, and high fat items. Random, I know, but I feel it just makes me special and forces me to be more creative.
So this is what I came up with

Ingredients
3 boneless chicken breasts
3/4 cup rice
1/4 to 1/2 cup artichoke hearts
1/4 sauteed mushrooms
one can cream of mushrooms
one tablespoon onion powder (add more to taste)
one tablespoon garlic powder (add more to taste)
one teaspoon cumin (add more to taste)
teaspoon rosemary (add more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Steps
Thaw chicken if frozen. then boil chicken breasts for 25 minutes. I do this to reduce fat content and for softer and more easily shreddable chicken. While chicken is boiling put rest of ingredients, minus rice, in saucepan over LOW heat. cover and let simmer. Remember to stir so that there is no burning off and no "film" over top of sauce. Cook rice to own liking.
Once chicken is done, remove from boiling water and remove any remaining fat or "ugly" pieces you don't want to eat. Chop into half inch pieces or smaller (this can vary according to preference, just not too much larger than one inch pieces). Once chopped, place chicken in simmering sauce and mix thoroughly. Turn sauce burner off, but replace lid back on and let chicken "cook" again in sauce for 5 to 10 minutes.
pour chicken and sauce over rice and done!

The result?
 


It looks so dull colored, but it tastes great!!!
It definitely could have had spice added to it for those who love spicy foods (I'm not a big fan). I would suggest any kind of pepper and it would've blended nicely.

yum!

Well, I've had a rough few days....

I've been lucky, I'll be lucky again.

- Bette Davis

Wordless Wednesday

Technically today will not be wordless because it's the first post and I wanted to explain it...
I am, by no means, the originator of this idea, but I thought it was fun nonetheless. Every Wednesday I will post a few pictures of things/people/places I love or found really interesting as recently.
Enjoy!

My mind is going a million miles a minute

I didn't get much sleep last night (way too excited that the boyfriend came home after a long trip) and ended up staying up way too late, but still having to come to work and be at my desk no later than 8am. Unlike most people who lack sleep and end up dragging through most of the day, I end up just being unable to focus and have things race through my mind at lightening speed. To appease my crazy thoughts and to (I suppose) distract myself from upcoming deadlines at work I end up searching through my favorite website haunts and sports pages in order to find somehting fun to focus on. Today's focus has become two items.
1. Anything FSU baseball related
2. Anything FSU football related

Yes, indeed, I am a FSU sport fanatic and proud of it. Currently I am seriously jones-ing for some football, but since I cannot have it, I am going to focus on baseball. Glorious baseball - America's age ole classic. It's an especially exciting time because FSU is going to the College World Series in Omaha (for the 20th time!) and I just hope we might be able to pull it out this year. Our poor Coach Martin has been doing this for 32 years and the man has still yet to win. Runner up more than once, but not yet the champion.
If you happen to be interested in reading more about my boys ....I mean, the FSU baseball squad, here are  few links:

FSU Baseball Official Website
College World Series Updates

The first game is on Saturday and is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (CT) and features TCU (51-12) and Florida St. (47-18). Here's to our boys!

Fresh Start

Since it is only a couple of days removed from my (gasp!) 25th birthday, I felt it would be a great adventure to make a list of "25 things for 25 year old Alyson". I've seen all these other blogs and websites with people and their own personal lists whether they be goals for the year, bucket lists, assignments by others, etc. I decided put this task on myself since I don't technically have any future goals planned out for me. I earned my Masters last summer, and after I completed school all I have done is work. How B-O-R-I-N-G.
So what better way to restart my blog then to start with my list:

1. save and buy nikon d3000 camera with all wanted accessories

2. take more pictures!(with and before new camera)

3. try a new recipe/food each week

4. spend more "individual" time with each dog

5. work on communication skills

6. love more

7. go on a "mini" vacation by myself.

8. read more( for fun)

9. be better about organization

10. craft more, spend less

11. donate more

12. do more outside

13. learn a new skill

14. treat myself better

15. listen to more classical music

16. lose the last 35 pounds by end of year

17. spend more time with sister

18. exercise more

19. be a better friend

20. "treat myself" once a month

21. blog

22. plant/ grow food

23. relax more

24. get a better paying job

25. laugh more.

Looks like I'm working on #21 already.....


and now an obligatory picture of something I love

shoes (designer flats marked down 75% off, love you dillards clearance rack!)

 and red sunglasses