Just breathe

Wow the past 5 days have been insane and not at all what I expected. Last week started out rough because of reasons I'll get to later or hopefully I won't have to. But I was feeling pretty low and bummed and trying to figure out my path. Then on Friday, I was getting ready to head back to Lawrence and my family found out my grandpa had passed away. This put my life on hold. My grandpa was 86 years old and had lived a full life and was ready to go but I still was not expecting his passing to come so soon. It makes me realize that we never know what's going to happen so we need to make sure we always tell those we love how we feel. Always. Needless to say I have been on quite the emotional rollercoaster over the past week and a half, especially the past 4 days with not many highs. However, I have done a ton of thinking and have sooo many ideas for things to write about so hopefully I'll be posting lots soon. Not that anybody reads this yet, but I feel I need to explain my lack of postings, not that there were that many to begin with. I think I just needed to write something. haha.

So I'll leave you all with a picture of my sweet grandfather and I. It was taken last April at our Easter celebration. :)

Discovery

Do you ever think you get to the point where you don't know what you want to do so you just say something and start pursuing it? After a while it becomes who you are and all you know and you feel like you can't do anything but what you said, even though that's not where your heart is really at? What if your true dream seemed so outside of the realm of possibility that you were afraid to tell the world? So you began living and believing something that seemed acceptable and good...but deep down you always had doubts. You believed you could something much bigger and more exciting. Then one day those doubts had the chance to come to the surface and no one believes you. No one believes that you can do anything different because you led such a convincing role for so long. And when you finally had the chance to talk about your other dreams, no one will listen. The fear can either overtake you at this point and you can stick with your accepted plans or you can say, "screw you world" and go after what you'd really like to do.

I am finally realizing I can be anything and do anything, I just need to make up my mind. With my college graduation looming five months away, that needs to happen quickly.

So this is where I'm at. I've been living a good life, doing good things to get me to a place I've said I'd like to be; but really I feel I can do more, that I have this dream bigger than anyone knows, but I need someone to support me. I need you to support me.

Words of Wisdom: Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. ~Buddha

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be. ~Douglas Adams

I LOVE Baking: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baking is the one thing I love to do in any mood. If I'm sad, I bake and it cheers me up. If I'm happy, I bake and dance around the kitchen. I like to bake things to give away as gifts and like having baked goods as my go to item for gatherings with friends or family. I just love to bake!

So yesterday, as a snow storm was brewing and it was cold outside and I was feeling a little down in the dumps, I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies. Not just any chocolate chip cookie but the softest chocolate chip cookie ever. I got this recipe from a friend in grade school. Her mother made these for birthday parties or if we just went up to her house to hang out and they were the best!

The secret ingredient...that makes them so tasty and possibly so soft (though I'm not really a science kind of gal, so I don't know the science behind achieving a soft cookie) is a package of vanilla pudding!

I tried to do a step by step photographs of the baking process but I have a problem with prolonging the baking process to clean off my hands and take another photo, so photos are few and far between.

The ingredients:

you can see here we have the main ingredients flanked by my mom's giant containers of flour and sugar. Eggs are missing from this photo...they kept rolling away.

I then mixed and mixed and mixed...the dough is really stiff.

The recipe calls for an entire 12 oz bag of chocolate chips...let me say now...half is plenty. You can see there's an overload of chocolate chips in the photo. I was pouring away and then i realize there are way too many chocolate chips in relation to batter, so i had to go through with a spoon and pick some out. However, if you would prefer more chocolate chips go for the whole thing. :)

The baking process...peeking in on the little fellas.

And the part I dislike of baking...having to wash the dishes. Though I must admit I'm thankful to have a dishwasher again after being without one in DC.

Softest chocolate chip cookies ever:
2 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda

mix together in a bowl and set aside.

cream 1 cup of softened butter
1/4 cup of white sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar, packed
4 serving package of instant vanilla pudding
1 tsp of vanilla
2 eggs

gradually add flour mixture. Batter will be stiff...i told you so
Then add 12 oz bag of chocolate chips...but really add 1/2 to 3/4 of the bag...you'll thank me later.

Add 1 cup of chopped nuts if you're digging it.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy with a tall glass of milk. :)

Washington DC: An Overview

Since I did a horrible job of keeping up with posting while I was in DC and I now have lots of free time on my hands I thought I would do a few review posts of Washington, DC. My favorite things to do and see and places to eat will be covered.

The view looking at the Capitol from the Old Post Office.

First off the best decision I made to have a worthwhile experience was choosing to live on Capital Hill. I lived near Eastern Market, which was about a 20 minute walk to the Rayburn building. It's a very quaint neighborhood. Cute little row houses side by side. Most of the people that lived in that area were young couples who worked on the Hill and some families. We did spot a couple of different members of Congress on the weekends wandering around the Eastern Market farmers' and flea market. This farmers' market was a great place to look around and shop on the weekends. My Sunday routine usually consisted of going to church at St. Peter's then grabbing a pretzel and lemonade from a vendor in Eastern Market. I would then meander through the market and usually ended up buying some fruit to take with me for lunch during the week. The market building inside reminded me of the Central Market in Florence.

Though I was able to buy some food items at either the Roland's grocery store on Pennsylvania Avenue or at Eastern Market, I would try and go the supermarket once ever two weeks. It was about 10 blocks away so finding the time to get over there and back while hauling groceries on the Metro was something I tried to limit.

Eastern Market in the snow...it's much more enjoyable in the warmth.

Thinking about hauling groceries from my place to the store makes me think about my first weekend in DC. I did more walking in one day than was entirely necessary, mainly because I couldn't ever figure out the bus system. I remember starting my day off by wanting to go down to the Mall by bus. I walked up to where the bus was supposed to be only to find it wouldn't be there for 15 minutes. I'm not a very patient person so I didn't really want to wait in one place for that long so I took off walking to the west. I walked all the way to the Newseum which was about 16 blocks from where I was at. Whew!

After spending most of my afternoon in there I hauled it back to church which was only about 10 blocks from the Newseum and then walked home after church. That was only day one.

The next day my roommate and I decided to explore the Eastern Market/Barracks Row area and then grocery shop. We ended up walking about 24 blocks that afternoon, including 10 blocks walking with loaded bags of groceries in the late August heat. Needless to say that was a good introduction to how DC works...walk, walk, walk.

So while this post took a bit of a detour with my weekend walking story, two tips I have to give is if you're interning: live on the Hill and be prepared to walk. If you're in DC visiting, while the Metro gets you close to all the great tourist spots, be prepared to walk or dish out some money for a taxi because they still are quite spread out.

There's No Place Like Home

Excuse the cheesy title but here I am back in Kansas. It's difficult to adjust to being back here after living in DC for the past 4 months.

Don't get me wrong I love my hometown and my family and my dog and seeing the stars in the middle of the country and the sunrising over my beautiful country church like this...

But I also miss seeing this beautiful building every morning walking to work...


hanging out with these great friends in a beautiful city...

and being only a couple of hours away from this...


I surprisingly miss the controversial news stories and the opportunities to see big name politicians and walk around inside the Capitol building marveling at the fabulous art. I miss Thai food..nom nom nom...and the vibe of Eastern Market. I miss riding the Metro and people watching. I miss being part of the political process and talking to Kansans as they call in with their concerns, though many people in my town have expressed their various opinions about representatives and senators and how they're doing their job. It's funny how there are things that the general public doesn't understand about the political process. Things that I probably didn't understand either before my experience. I miss the quick pace of the city, just as much as I missed the open spaces and calmness of the country when I was there. I'm torn between going back and staying here.

I am looking forward to getting back to Lawrence and finishing up my college career. My degree is only four short classes away. I'm going to love every minute of it and the memories I will make with the friends I have been away from the past four months. I am already planning get togethers with my friends when I get back! Life is good, I will always have a spot in my heart to miss a place I love and of course people I love. I've just got to learn to enjoy the moment as it happens and not wish I was constantly in some other location.

Words of Wisdom: "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you have altered." - Nelson Mandela

Where is the time going?

Oh my goodness! I've only got about four weeks left for my internship and this is only my third blog post. Oops!

In the past few weeks, I've seen almost all the museums that really interest me, seen the monuments multiple times, turned another year older, become an expert or atleast I can intelligently discuss the legislative process, attended an election watch party where big names such as John Boehner and Mitch McConnell were present, celebrated my boss' win as Kansas next Senator, explored the city with a few of my best friends, made new friends in two new roommates and numerous people I have met, blended into routines that make me a local and fallen more in love with this city.

Three Weeks Down Already!

When I went to work this morning, one of my co-workers pointed out that if I were doing a summer internship, I would be halfway done already. Thankfully I have until December until I am finished. In the past three weeks, I have learned my way through the Capitol and have managed to make it around without getting lost too much, I've discovered how to successfully navigate through the Metro, and I've pretty much fallen in love with DC. I miss Kansas with its wide open spaces and lovely people so much, but DC is so charming and historic it has stolen my heart! I have been pleasantly surprised by how friendly people here are. And I'm sure if you're getting ready to live here or even visit you've been told that its very expensive to live here...that is sooooo true! PB&J's and fresh fruit from Eastern Market are my main meals because it's cheap and easy.


In more exciting news than what I've been chowing down on, I went to the Glenn Beck rally that has caused much controversey in the news lately. It was interesting and while I agreed with most things being said more than I disagreed, it was a bit extreme at some points. Other exciting news: I have some really amazing roommates, one is from England and the other is from Austria. They are both lovely and it is fun to cook with them! We also discuss the many differences between our countries especially differences in education and healthcare systems. Who would have thought I'd be having an international experience still in the U.S. My weeks are filled with spending time at the Capitol getting the opportunity to help Kansans and find out about issues that really matter to them and meeting Kansans as they come into the office for a visit!

If theres anything extra you would like me to post about just let me know! I'm doing so much I never know what is interesting and what could be left out! I could definitely talk about food and the exhibits I see all day long!

Words of Wisdom: For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work. ~Doug Larson

And just for kicks and giggles: How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on.