Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I'm still recovering, so this is all I can give right now. Have a good one.

Halloweens Past...

I was feeling nostalgic last night and decided to look at photos from past Halloweens. Though it's not a complete history, here are some of my get-ups from years past.
1999...















Yes, that's right, I was Kurt Stein. (We were dating at the time...let's just not go there.)

2001...













On Friday night I was Marla from the movie Fight Club (Yes, my hair is black...at the time I thought it looked good???)..........














And then on Saturday night I was a princess who apparently liked to drink champagne!

2002...













Here she is, Miss Minnesota. This photo was taken at the mother of all Halloween parties that Brooke and I threw at our house that year. It went down in the History books, folks. The cops got called, but I worked for them the previous year, and luckily one of the officers I knew showed up. I smoothed things over and we continued partying into the morning hours!

2003...
Apparently I sucked this year when it came to taking pictures because I don't have any of me even though I had two pretty fabulous costumes that I made myself. I found them in a closet and took photos of them to share:

FrontView..................................BackView

This year I was a Southern Belle the first half of the evening, and then (after a costume change during which I ended up cutting out two chunks of my hair around the crown of me head(requires too much of an explanation))...



















I spent the rest of the night as a flamenco dancer. What a night!

2004...Sucked.
I don't even remember what I was. I'm planning on taking tons of pictures this year, so look forward to being bombarded!

Good News!

The word is in...I'm healthy! All my test results came back normal.
My physician thinks that the hair loss was just due to my recent high levels of stress. She can't give a concrete explanation for the curly hairs, but her professional opinion is that my straight hairs will not all turn curly. My fingers are crossed!
Have I mentioned how excited I am about Halloween this weekend? Blue changed his mind about his costume and currently does not have one, so we're working on that. I made the final preparations for mine earlier today. I can't wait to see what everyone else will be dressed as. Yea! Halloweeeeeeen! The second best holiday of the year!

I'm Free!!!!

I'm finally free of the stress that is PCAT. I took the test on Saturday morning. It took 5 hours and my brain was fried by the time I was finished, so it's hard to know how I did. The test was difficult, but I hope I made a decent enought score not to have to take it again in January.
Yea!!!! It's the week before Halloween. Double Yea!!! I'vc come up with a decent Halloween costume for the party on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it.
Side note: Still no news on my health. I'm definitely calling tomorrow to find out if the lab results are in. Oh yeah, and it looks like I'm once again going to have to join the workforce. (I guess it is about time seeing as how I haven't had a job in about the past 5 months.) Funds are dwindling and I don't want to dip into my savings, so anyone know of any part-time, non-demeaning positions available in Conway???

Quick Update during a study break....

I'm still waiting to get the results back from my blood work, so no medical news yet. Maybe I'll get a call today. I'm studying myself to death for the PCAT, so you can bet I'm looking forward to the Survivor party tonight. See you there!

Relief is in Sight!

I've got two big events coming up this week, and when they are finished I hope to feel much less stressed. The first is my aforementioned doctors appointment on Tuesday morning to try to determine why my hair follicles are freaking out. And then, (cue Jaws theme song) on Saturday morning at 8:30 AM, the long awaited PCAT will commence. (You can taste the sarcasm.) I'll keep you updated on these events throughout the week (unless I decide to run away and disappear on some small island in the Pacific.)

A fun way to waste time on a Friday

For all of you who have a digital camera, take a head shot of yourself and go to this website. It analyzes your facial features and tells you what races you are made up of. It's pretty interesting. I consist of 38% East Indian, 35% Anglo-saxon, and 26% Southern European. It also tells you what celebrity you most resemble. My match was Jessica Biel. Blue's was Quentin Tarantino. (I made him do it too :) ) Try it, it's cool!

Food Finds

Yea! It's clementine season! If you've never had the pleasure of eating one of these cute little citrus fruits, you've got to try them. (Brooke can attest to there delicious qualities. We used to split crates when we lived together.) They have a unique flavor. They're a little more tart than an orange, but not bitter like grapefruit and have a gentle sweetness. They should be in the produce section of your grocery store for the next couple of months. They usually come in a crate (see above) or in a mesh bag. They are a little pricey ($6 to $8 a crate, but you usually get about 30 pieces of fruit), but this is most likely due to the fact that they are imported from Spain and North Africa. They are also easy to peel. I've been eating 2 or 3 a day!


Another fun discovery that Blue and I made a few weeks ago at Kroger is the natural peanut butters produce by a company out of New York City, specifically Greenwich Village. They started as a sandwich shop, and have grown to sell their homemade peanut butters throughout the country. Their products are all natural with no refined sugars or trans fats. They have some pretty tasty flavor combos too. The one pictured above is my favorite. It tastes like dessert. They have other flavors like Dark Chocolate Dreams (which I've also tried...it's good, but the white chocolate is better) and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. Obviously, it's located in the peanut butter/jam isle and a jar will cost you about $4. It's high, but in this case your paying for quality, not advertisement. Give it a try and for more info, see their website.

Okay...Now I'm Really Freaked Out!

If you remember, a week or two ago I talked about how I've started losing an abnormal amount of hair. On a side note, I have a doctors appointment next week to see what's up. Anyway, there's been a new development and it's got me worried. I noticed last night that I now have several curly hairs. I don't mean two or three. If I look in the mirror for a few seconds I can find ten to twenty. Some of them are tight ringlets like Brooke's hair and others are wavy like Elizabeth's hair when she doesn't straighten it. Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against people with curly hair. I simply have something against me with curly hair. I've had board straight hair since the day I was born. I'm not prepared to change that. I wouldn't be myself anymore. I don't mean to sound vain, but when a part of your body may be altered in the opposite way of what you are used to, it's a little unnerving! Hopefully my whole head is not in the process of becoming curly, but my little brothers hair turned curly about two years ago without notice. He had straight hair since he was born too. Ahhhhhhhhh!

Recipe of the Week!

All the tasty appetizers we had at the Survivor party last week inspired me to post this yummy dip recipe. Warning! It is not healthy. It one of those things that is bad for you, but it taste sooo goood that you let yourself eat it once or twice a year. Here you go:

Sausage, Cheese, and Chile Dip

3/4 lb. bulk pork sausage
1 8-oz. package cream cheese
1 7-oz. can Rotel
1/4 pound extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1.) In a large skillet, fry the sausage over moderate heat, breaking it up with a fork, till well cooked, then drain on paper towels.
2.) Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 1-1/2-quart casserole and set aside.
3.) In a large mixing bowl, combine the sausage, cream cheese, and tomatoes and chiles and mix till well blended.
4.) Scrape mixture into the prepared casserole, sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top, and bake till bubbly and the cheese has melted completely, about 15 minutes. Serve hot with Fritos Scoops (or your favorite corn chip).

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

WE LOVE FALL!

When I wasn't studying, I spent the weekend outside with the dog. It was fabulous! There wasn't a whole lot of action otherwise because all my friends live in LR and Blue worked most of the weekend, but it was nice to get a lot of work done and then relax.
With the new chill in the air, I decided to pick up knitting again. And...since it was just me and Mozart this weekend, he modeled some scarves for the blog. :)

I made this one last year. It's one of my favorites because of the texture.

I just finished this one. You can tell Mozart feels pretty in it!

I've given all my others away, but I just started another one so I'm sure they'll be more to come throughout the season.

I'm Spent...

This week has been madness so far! School has become grueling and I've had no energy left in the evenings to post anything new. As of today, I've also been struggling with a severe case of puppy fever in light of Karl and Kat's new family members. I think this issue is joining the list of never ending battles in my life. (Sigh) Fun Leah shall return soon! (Hopefully the Survivor party tomorrow evening will be the light at the end of the tunnel.)

Yeah Baby!

Check out those two red numbers in the upper right hand corner. That's right folks, I made a 97% on my first organic chemistry test. I rule!!

Sista', Sista'

I hung out with my little sis, Jillian, on Saturday night. We went shopping for 3 hours and had Tropical Smoothie for dinner. Yea smoothies! (She was not happy that I took this picture.)