13th Annual Library of Congress National Book Festival

((STILL SCREAMING))

 

I GOT TO MEET THE WOMAN WHO MADE MY CHILDHOOD AWESOME!!!
(and then went to work and sobbed about it 3 hours later)

 

Jess got to meet the man who wrote The Pendragon Adventure series, the "Harry Potter books" of her childhood.

 

THEN I GOT TO MEET TAMORA PIERCE AND HAVE HER SIGN THE FIRST BOOK OF HERS I EVER READ!!!

STILL CRYING ABOUT IT!!!

Important Tidbit On What I've Been Up To

((SCREAMING)) #mac&cheese #dairyfree #vegan
instagram

You're probably wondering what the above picture means other than to show a box of Dairy Free Mac'n'Cheese. Well, that picture was taken 2 months ago on August 3, 2013. Since then, I've been pescetarian/vegetarian.

I know, right? "Why?!" I blame my mom. She watched a vegan documentary that was blunt in what goes on in the meat and food industry, and then decided to show me those sections in particular. That night, all we had in the house was rotisserie chicken and felt physically ill just thinking of eating it. And I'd thought Forks Over Knives had been eye-opening. (>_<)

At that point, I had every intention of going vegan. I'd already been 96% (-ish. it's hard giving up the M&Ms and chocolate chip cookies) dairy free for a year, and I wasn't a fan of eggs outside of fried rice, breakfast sandwiches, or my usual "Fruity Tooty Fresh and Fruity" order at IHOP (of which I'm trying my hand at the syrup, soon). So that was it. Vegan I would become.

Then I remembered we were going to Virginia Beach for vacation. I'm not sorry, but I love me some shrimp. Maybe one day I'll fully give up all meats, but until that day, I'm content with the occasional seafood. And I found it harder worrying about eggs, or honey, or milk being in the majority of the baked goods I'd be eating when I wasn't in a place I was familiar with. At least here in Northern Virginia I know where I can easily score a vegetarian or vegan meal. Two-hundred plus miles from home? Wasn't adding that to my, or my mother's, plate....pun not intended.

In any case, I'm proud of myself. I'm the only one in the house that's pescetarian and I've been cooking more. We have about 3 new vegan/vegetarian cookbooks on hand and with the commissary carrying vegetable protein meat, it's been easy on when my mom cooks instead. I was even able to join in on the family dinner when my mom, using the aforementioned chicken, made a pot pie from scratch and I found a single-serve, vegetarian one at the store while getting the crusts. :)

 

So that's that. Biggest "What I've Been Doing" update at the moment. :)

Whee!

I'm writing to you guys from my new Nook HD+! XD

Oh, May. Your showers bring flowers and weeds in symmetry.

So! Today it's another Mother's Day of spoiling our mom! We gave her a few choices this morning since we live in the D.C. Metro area:

1. $100 to shop anywhere in Georgetown and then Iron Man 3 in IMAX 3D for all three of us.
2. Two back-row, side tier, tickets to Brian Stokes Mitchell’s show at the Kennedy Center in D.C. at 5pm for her and one of us or a friend. (Brian played one of Rachel’s dads in Glee and our mom loves him.)
3. One front-row, stage box ticket for her to Brian Stokes Mitchell’s show and shopping in Georgetown.
4. The box ticket for Brian Stokes Mitchell’s and Iron Man 3 in IMAX 3D.

None of this, of course, includes any lunches we may have and our dinner later tonight, of which I’ll be playing the night’s designated driver. So she’s got some decisions to make before she gets home from church and we spoil her to bits as much as possible again. As my little sister Jessye said and I wholeheartedly agree: “We plan late but we damn well follow through!”

The only thing that sucks, is that this was my only weekend in May that I didn't have to ask to have off or request specific shifts. Since my birthday is the 26th (I'll be 24, whee!), which is a Sunday so we're already closed, I asked for the morning shift the day before and the evening shift the day after. Then there’s an interpreting event the next weekend on June 1st, a Saturday, that I already prepaid, so I asked for it off and then certain shifts around that….and I also have freaking jury duty next week, so this week is the last one I'm fully scheduled for before June. AUGH!!! DX

AND I FINALLY WASHED MY CAR JUST TO HAVE A STORM SHOW UP AND RUIN HER SHININESS!!!

Minecraft & MinecraftEdu: An Original Essay

So, I was asked a while ago to post the essay I wrote for my English 111 class somewhere viewable online. Since I'm trying to bring my blog back to life, and I don't know how to upload it to Google Docs without my full name showing up, I thought, what better place than to post it than here? While it's not professional or in any way a scholarly article, I'm still really proud of it and the "A" I received for it. :) So here it is, in all its glory, for everyone's viewing pleasure. Excuse me as I go off and squee in a corner. X)

(essay after the jump)

Oh the joys of Finals Week brain-fog.

Accidentally wearing the same shirt 2 days in-a-row LIKE A BOSS!

original Instagram post

APR 30 2013

Welcome to the future, Marty McFly.