9 Reasons why I pluck not wax my eyebrows

1. I can control them

Ever since I saw one of friends get a hack job of an eyebrow wax at a very nice salon, I have not trusted anybody except myself.  I know when to stop plucking and when I stop they look nice now, not in a few days.  Also, I don't have to worry about the beautician taking too much off because of a difference in opinions.

2. I can do them every day if I need to

I have recently gotten into the habit of plucking one or two stray hairs every day.  This has many benefits but the fact that you always have beautiful eyebrows definitely prevails.

3.  I can shape them how I want them

I tend to love big bushy eyebrows.  I like that I don't have to go to the beautician with the skinniest eyebrows around and defend my case as to why I don't want them all ripped off.

4.  If you do a little everyday it doesn't hurt or turn your eye lids red

Since I pluck a couple eyebrow hairs every couple of days, I never have to worry about having beat red eyebrows from a waxing.  I can go right into a very important meeting just hours after plucking them, and feel confident that my eyebrows will look fabulous.

6.  It's not that hard

It really isn't.  As long as you don't go pluck crazy you will be fine.  Just remember, pluck a little, step back and look from farther away, check to make sure it is matching the other eyebrow and you are fine!   Go for it!

8. You don't have to wait until your eyebrows are wildly out of control to clean them up

This is a major plus!  You can't wax your eyebrows without having hairs there and who is going to go pay for a wax every time a stray hair pops up!  My eyebrows are always neat and trim, no awkward growing out faze.

9.  It's a heck of a lot cheaper!

I think I paid around $8 for my tweezers (which I thought was a lot!).  How much do you pay EVERY time you get your eyebrows waxed?

I will post later about my eyebrow philosophies.  =)

Valentines Day Date at the Charlie Creek Inn

Before I delve into how wonderful our Valentine's day was I want to point out something for those girls that might think, "why doesn't MY boy do this!?"  Well, I used to be one of you.  In fact, for the last 3 years I have CRIED on Valentines day.  Yes, CRIED.  Eric had no idea how important valentines is for a relationship and it took him this long to figure it out.  However, until this year I had not communicated that Valentine's day was important to me.  So, how did he figure it out?  Because I realized that I needed to spell out exactly what I wanted and expected from valentines day. Men just need that sometimes.  Too many women expect them to know every expectation that we don't vocalize and it is simply unrealistic.  He thought that I was different from every other girl on the planet and that I didn't care about being romanced.  WHY?  Because he is a man and he was clueless.  

So this year I was very clear about what I was hoping for and he did excellent.   It was a classic valentines date and was a very special night for the two of us.  

Here is how it went...

After lunch, Eric showed up at the school with a bouquet of red roses and handed them to me.  He was planning on coming already but I did not expect him to come clad with roses!   He stayed to see my last two classes, just because he wanted to see what a day in my life looked like.  It made me feel really special that he wanted to come to work with me. 

When I came home I found a bouquet of white roses and a rose gold watch waiting for me! 

The watch is absolutely beautiful and I love it!  

Also, it's really hard to get a good picture of a watch. 

After much squealing and rejoicing about the watch and roses I got ready to go out!  We didn't take anymore pictures on the date.  Sometimes it is better to just live in the moment.  

We drove to Wabash Indiana to a wine and chocolate tasting at the Charlie Creek Inn, which is this really cute, historic hotel in downtown Wabash.  The tasting was really fun.  We got to taste 7 or 8 different wines and chocolate pairings and walk around the romantic inn.  It was fun just talking and enjoying each others company throughout the tasting.   I always have so much fun with Eric, everywhere we go. 

After the tasting, he had made reservations at the hotel restaurant Twenty.  This is probably the nicest restaurant within 50 miles of Peru.  It has the best French onion soup on this planet!  We both started out with the soup and then he had lobster mac & cheese and I had filet mignon and shrimp scampi.  Yum! We had a very nice, lingering dinner there and again enjoyed each other's company.  

After the restaurant I really wanted a scoop of chocolate ice cream so we headed over to the chocolate shop in the hotel.  They were closing in 5 minutes and gave me a scoop of hand-dipped "Death by Chocolate" ice cream for $1!  It was perfect timing and perfect pricing!  Also, the ice cream was to die for. 

After all of that we drove back to Peru and spent the rest of the evening in.  It was a very romantic, nice night that I am sure we will remember for years to come.  I am proud of Eric for finally figuring out how Valentines is supposed to be and for myself for communicating my desires to him.  

End table

Does your family have that one piece of furniture that nobody wants but nobody can get rid of?   Yep, that is this end table that I am about to up-cycle.   It was all scratched up and out of date but it was my great grandmas and nobody could get rid of it!  So, of course when we were in desperate need of furniture, I took it!  I knew I would paint it and turn it in to a beautiful table.  Here is how it went!

This was before I discovered bonding primer and I had to sand around all of those little spools.. ugh.  It took forever! 

I didn't have any primer so I just started with the paint.  I used a white eggshell paint.   It took about 3 coats to finish it completely.

Even though this is extremely poor picture quality you can see how beautiful it is now!  We love it and it adds to our look in the living room.  

What do you have that would look great with a coat of paint on it?  

Up-cycled Fancy Bed Board

When Eric and I were moving into our apartment, the goal was to not spend any money on furniture.  That's right, I said ZERO DOLLARS.   I think we accomplished that (or at least spent no more that $50 all together)   How did we do it?  We searched through relatives basements, attics, and sheds to find things that could serve a purpose for a little while or that could eventually be turned into something magnificent!  We did buy a few things from garage sales, but only if they were the right price (practically free).

This head board is one of those free things that we got!  Nobody wanted it in our big extended family so it ended up in my mother's basement with a mattress in it!  Eric, who struggles to see how things can be transformed, was not too fond of the bed when we first got it.  I didn't like it either!  It was old, outdated, and just ugly!  But, I saw past the fake wood finish and saw the potential that this head board had!  After living with it for the past 5 months, I finally tackled it during one of my many snow days I've had.

This is what it started as….  ew.

I was REALLY not looking forward to sanding in all of the cracks, so I went to Ace Hardware and I found this amazing stuff!  It's called bonding primer and if you use this, you don't have to SAND!!  IT'S A MIRACLE!  

So, I began priming.   It is always so excited to put the first brush of paint on something.  I just love seeing the transformation begin from something looking so ugly and mundane to looking beautiful, with just a simple coat of white paint!   This is after the first coat, the wood was really dark so I think I ended up doing 2 coats of primer. 

After two coats of primer, I just did one coat of paint. I probably should have done two, but we were sort of in a time crunch so we settled with one.  It looks great!

 I just used regular eggshell white latex paint.  

We let it dry over night and then put it back on the bed! And voila, our bed is transformed!  It went from looking like a random bed from a relatives basement (oh wait, it was) to looking like a beautiful master piece that truly belongs in this room!  Our bedroom is starting to look more like a cohesive environment, everything is slowly getting painted white because it was so ugly to begin with.   Notice the lamp-stand next to the table, that thing was SO UGLY before.  I really wish I had a picture. 

These little doo-hickys are supposed to go on the ends of the bed but we only have one.   I'm currently searching for something like this to put on it.  I'll let you guys know when I find them! 

Here's a closer look at the finished product. 

So here it is!  The final full transformation! 

Thanks for reading and go paint something ugly and make it beautiful! 

How to "Pretzel" Anything

Ever bite into one of those pretzel buns and thought, "Hey, this is just a regular bun with a pretzel outside!"  Well, that's because it is!   Basically in order to turn something into a pretzel you make your normal bread dough and then you do the following steps.  Enjoy your pretzeled life from now on!  But be careful, pretzeling may cause excessive eating of such things that are pretzeled!!

I have made a couple different pretzel recipes and this is the technique they always use, but the first time I did it I seriously felt like I was doing everything wrong.  That is why I decided to take pictures and write this post so you all can feel confident and know that you aren't doing anything wrong. 

First you just start with your normal dough for whatever you were making… bread sticks, rolls, buns, bread, whatever!  After it has risen all of the way you begin the process.  I am using rolls now. 

You mix water with baking soda (I put 6 cups to 4 tablespoons of baking soda) in a large frying pan and let it come to a simmer. 

It starts to steam baking soda everywhere and it looks like you are a mad scientist! 

Then you put the raw dough in the lightly boiling baking soda water for 30-60 seconds on each side.  I know, it seems really weird and I doubted myself horribly when I first did this, but it's right! 

After they have been boiled in the baking soda on each side take them out and place them on your greased cookie sheet.  They look really old and gross when they come out. 

Next you are going to whip up an egg white and baste it over the top of them

Then you grind salt over the top. 

Since I was making rolls, I sliced them down the middle to create a nice split when they baked. 

Then you bake them until they look like pretzels and voila everyone thinks you are an amazing cook!

If you pretzel anything, tell me about it on here!  I want to know!

Here are the directions put together so you don't have to scroll =)

What you need:

6 Cups Water

4 Tablespoons Baking Soda

1 Egg White

Salt

Dough from whatever you are making

1. Start with your normal dough for whatever you were making… bread sticks, rolls, buns, bread, whatever!  After it has risen all of the way you begin the process.  I am using rolls now. 

2. You mix water with baking soda (I put 6 cups to 4 tablespoons of baking soda) in a large frying pan and let it come to a simmer. 

3. Then you put the raw dough in the lightly boiling baking soda water for 30-60 seconds on each side.  

4. After they have been boiled in the baking soda on each side take them out and place them on your greased cookie sheet.  

5.  Whip up an egg white and baste it over the top of them

6.  Grind salt over the top of them

7.  I sliced them down the middle to create a nice split when they baked

8.  Bake them until they look like pretzels, everything is different

Un-American Coca-Cola Comercial? I think not.

While watching the super bowl on sunday (mainly to see Renee Fleming sing the national anthem) I saw the most beautiful commercial that coca-cola put out. The one where they sing America the Beautiful in so many different languages and it shows the different cultures that are found in America. I began to tear up thinking about some of my students who speak English as a second language and how beautiful America is not only because of the vast landscape but also because of the multiple cultures that make us the melting pot that we are today.

The game went on and I didn't think anything else of that commercial until a few days ago when I saw my friends posting about how upset they were that people were upset about that commercial. I started asking around and it turns out there were actually people who thought that commercial was "Un-American"! I WAS FLOORED! I guess, I did think that there would be people out there that are afraid to hear other languages but I didn't think they would think it was "Un-American".

So, this blog post is for you, people who think that commercial was Un-American.

I began traveling out of the country at a very young age, and this taught me some very valuable lessons early on. One of those realizations that I came to more recently is that if you go to Mexico, you are typically going to see Mexicans (dark skin, dark hair, etc). If you go to Germany you are going to see Germans (Caucasions, light skin, etc.). If you go to Zambia, Africa you are going to typically see Africans (black, black hair, strong, etc). That is because that is the country they are in, most people that live in Zambia are native born Zambians so they look like Zambians. End of story. When I went to Zambia, I looked INCREDIBLY out of place with my pale skin and blonde hair. Same thing with Mexico and Spain. Those countries are not melting pots.

America is a melting pot. Melting pot, let's think about that for a minute. Does that mean we all come out into cookie-cutter people who think the same, talk the same, and look the same. NO. It means we are from different cultures and that is what makes it so beautiful. The fact that people can move to America from any country (after going through immigration and all that stuff) and become a citizen is wonderful! That is what our country is founded upon. We wouldn't be what we are today if we weren't made up of multiple cultures and ethnicities. That is why when you walk down the street you don't just see all caucasian people or all hispanic people. You see a mix! Because we are a melting pot.

I know that some of you only see a small part of America, that part might be all English speaking, mid-western people who all look, dress, and act pretty similar. But that is not the case throughout America. If you go to New Mexico you will see a completely different America, one that does not necessarily have English as a first language and one that looks, acts, and dresses very different from the mid-west. And though you may find it hard to believe, they are just as American as you are. Because we are a melting pot.

How often do those "out of the box" Americans feel left out when they see a patriotic commercial that only has white, english speaking people in it? Why not show the TRUE America that is culturally diverse and does not always speak English as it's first language.

Now, before you jump to conclusions, I must add that I do believe that you should be able to speak English if you want to live in America (it is just common sense to speak the language of which you live). But I don't think anything is wrong with somebody not being AMAZING at English and having it as their best language. ESL people probably think, sing, and feel in their native tongues more than English.

Also, there is so much more to America than the fact that we speak English. So why do we say that to speak English is to be an American? Let other countries that do use their language to define them have that. I would rather stand on our constitution, our people, and our way of life to define us as a country.
That is why I believe that commercial was the most patriotic commercial that I saw. It represented what America truly is. A melting pot. A land full of people from different backgrounds, cultures, and races that stands united.

If you want to watch the full commercial, click here. I highly recommend it.

Magnificent Coconut Mango Frozen Yogurt

For Christmas, Eric got me this wonderful Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Bowl.   I absolutely love it and have had a ton of fun exploring some of the possibilities I can do with it!   I made Egg Nog Ice Cream, Regular Ice Cream, and Double Chocolate Custard (that was my favorite).  But none of those things are healthy for me and I am the kind of person, that if it is in my house, I will eat it.  So I starting thinking of HEALTHY things I could make in it.  Then I came to the idea to make FROZEN YOGURT!

I didn't start with a recipe, in fact I didn't even want to look for one.  I had an idea of how to make it in my head and so I set out and did it!  It tasted SO GOOD and it was healthy for me!

. 

We had these frozen mango chunks from Trader Joes that we got for smoothies a long time ago and we never really used them, so I decided I would whip those babies out.   We had 2 cups of them left, so that is what I started with.   I thawed them in warm water first. 

Then I placed them in this awesome guy we got as a wedding gift!   It's a food processor but it has 4 different cups which all have their own lids so they double as tupperware.  Also, this little guy is SUPER fast and not big and bulky.  So, I put them in there and chopped them until they weren't getting any smoother. 

It wasn't as smooth as I wanted it to be, so I pushed it through a mesh strainer into a bowl until this is all that was left in the strainer. 

This is what came through the strainer, nice smooth mango cream stuff.  

I added 1 1/2 Cups of Whole Milk Organic Yogurt (I meant to get greek yogurt but this was on sale) and I stirred until well combined.  Then I added the sugar and coconut and stirred some more. 

I placed it in my Kitched Aid Ice Cream Maker and let it go for about 15 - 20 minutes until it was ice cream consistency.   And this is what I ended up with!  IT WAS SO GOOD!  I was so proud of myself coming up with a recipe for something that I had never tried before! 

I placed what was left of it in a frozen bowl (so it would melt when it hit the bowl and freeze badly) and put it in the freezer!   It didn't stay as soft when it was frozen but it thawed out after a bit and tasted WONDERFUL!   

So here is the recipe:

2 Cups Frozen or Fresh Mango Chunks 

1 1/2 Cups Plain Yogurt 

1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Coconut 

1/3 Cup Sugar 

1.  Place thawed mango chunks in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth

2.  Place a mesh strainer over a medium bowl and push pureed mango through strainer until no more liquid is left

3. Add yogurt, coconut, and sugar and stir until well combined 

4. Place Yogurt Mixture in ice cream maker and follow manufactures instructions 

5. For best taste serve immediately

6.  If you have to freeze it, place it a frozen bowl, cover, and place in freezer.  Set out on counter for 5 minutes before eating.