KC

Hi, My name is Becky and I am addicted to Kettle Chips.

(Funny how often this blog is where I write about food....) Hmmm

If you haven't tried Kettle Chips recently, and you're looking for a new food to make you fat, check out Kettle Chips. Plain old "lightly salted" flavor. I think I've eaten at least 10 servings in 2 nights. Wonder what I'm going to wear on New Year's Eve since I won't be able to fit into my dress because I'll have gained 10 pounds in chips (not to mention all the Christmas treats)

Yummy!

Am I really in Minnesota??

It is snowing like a mo-fo here in Chicago. It's our first "real" snow and everyone forgot how to drive. Luckily, I took the bus today and didn't have to deal with all the crazy drivers. HOWEVER, I was on a 3 mile bus ride for over an hour, and it was crowded and wet and smelly. Eew.

The forecast is for up to 9 inches - and wind chills 0 to 10 below.

Just in case you don't believe me, here's a picture of my car parked outside my building:



It doesn't look too bad though, does it? It's only supposed to snow another couple hours...

Turnips - my new favorite veggie

Jennifer likes to write about her cooking "experiments" in her blog, so I wanted to join the party. :)

I get a produce box full of organic fruits and veggies at a local co-op every week. I tend to get a lot of items I would never have purchased individually, or that I had never heard of before.

I had a turnip the other week and I thought, what the heck am I going to do with a turnip??? Pretty sure I've never eaten a turnip before....

...until TONIGHT. Yes, I tried Jennifer's recipe and they were GOOD!! Why?? Why is a turnip good?? I wish I would have taken a picture. But definitely check out Jennifer's blog if you're interested and feelin' brave.

This week I got "sunchokes" in my box, along with beets and several heads of broccoli - I think it's winter and they don't know what to do, because Becky So is not so happy with this week's box. Prize goes to the first person who can tell me what the hell sunchokes are :) (Jennifer, you don't count, I already told you!)

Buddy got cuter

Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but Buddy is growing up and getting cuter every time I see him! He likes getting his picture taken and always looks right at the camera. I even entered him in a "cutest kitty" contest. :)



As you can see, he also has a big beautiful bushy tail. I never woulda thunk I'd love a kitty cat so much - I've always been more of a dog person myself.

Speaking of, I really think Buddy needs a puppy playmate. My dad wants a golden retriever but wants to wait til their in the new house - but I'm of the opinion that they should train a new puppy in the old house...oh well.

Homework

I'd forgotten what it's like to have "homework." As I sit here, thinking of any possible things I could do to procrastinate (eating being top on my list), I should be writing my entrance essay for candidacy. Hey, maybe I'll write here all about what I want to do next in my life, and when everyone asks me, I can just direct them to my blog!! :)

At the moment I'm torn between just packing up in May when this job ends, moving back to MN and finding a job for a year (maybe McDonald's would hire me??) OR my other option is actually getting my darn essay done, and applying for school so that I can do something worthwhile (Something tells me this is probably the better option).

Here's what I have to write about (in a condensed nutshell): 4-6 pages about
1. events, circumstances, and people who've affected my faith and sense of call, and how others encouraged me to explore "theological study."
2. my family of origin and how it shaped who I am
3. current life situation, including marriage situation (nonexistent), physical, spiritual, and emotional health (all excellent of course...except for those 3 buttery biscuits I just ate in 5 minutes), and financial situation (poor)
4. reflect on my personal journey of faith
5. reflect on understanding of ministry I feel called (diaconal ministry - I want to get a dual degree in social work, and see where that takes me. I don't feel called to be an ordained pastor at this time in my life.)

Whew!!! Soooo apparently I will have no trouble with the length. I've determined that I could write a book about this (I didn't say it'd be an *interesting* book...just a long one!!)

Don't even ask me which schools I'm applying to....but if you're interested, I'm probably applying to schools in: Chicago, Philadelphia, Berkeley, and St. Paul. Hmmm....

HELP!!

Where, oh where are my Packers?!

Last night on Monday Night Football, the Packers got beat yet again. Oh so sad. Not only did the Packers lose the game - they lost it to the stupid Vikings!!! And not only did they lose to the Vikings but I lost a bet as a result!!

Matt bet me a bottle of vodka that the Vikings would win. I'm thinkin' it should be a teeny bottle because the Vikings only won off a field goal in the last few seconds....

I know none of you reading this probably care about football even. Oh well, you'll have to hear me lament anyway. I will stand by my Packers always!!! And I will always bet bottles of vodka on them!! It's a win-win situation ;)

Countdown to Harry Potter 4

Only FOUR more days til the release of Harry Potter Goblet of Fire. Here in Chicago it will be playing at the IMAX at Navy Pier. An expensive yet so cool way to see the movie. Who's going with me???

I'm excited for it, however I was disappointed with Harry Potter #3. It was my favorite book, but the movie just wasn't what I expected. I wonder how this 4th one will be???

Subscribe to my blog!

Oh yes, you can now SUBSCRIBE to my blog!! Only ONE email will be sent on the days I update my blog, letting you know that I've updated. How cool is that?? Just go enter your email over there on the right side of my blog...

You may also notice that I now have a counter on my blog, wayyyyy at the bottom. It will be necessary for you to come back often so that I have a high count!!!

Please use recycled toilet paper!!

I'm sick and have no voice today, so I am FORCED to hang out on the internet and write a new entry in my blog!!!

I would like to quote a recent email from the National Resource Defence Council:

You can help save trees by purchasing recycled tissues, toilet paper, napkins and paper towels.

(did you know that if every U.S. household replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper with a 100%-recycled one, we could save *423,900* trees?).

NRDC has made it easy for you -- just visit our new consumer guide and learn which brands are the most (and least) forest-friendly: http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp

We've even created a printable wallet card that you can easily bring with you when you shop:
http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/tissueguide/walletcard.pdf

Friends, please check this out!!! Go to their website and read all about environmental news and even sign up for environment action emails that only come about once a month!

Candy Corn

I'm on a role...might as well procrastinate a bit more...

What the heck is candy corn made out of?????

I recently saw a candy corn package that said "Made with real honey." Yummy I thought!! However, does that mean all other kinds of candy corn are made with fake honey? No honey at all??? What is IN candy corn? (I'm guessing I don't really want to know...)

I don't even like candy corn really, but once I eat one, I can't stop. These particulary candy corns were excellent though, I must say, so I'm thinking the real honey had something to do with it.

They were Brach's brand. If you are a candy corn fan, this is definitely the brand to get.

Happy Fall!!

Stickies

I have soooooooo much work to do!! However there is an important issue that needs discussing.

Beautiful Heather is wondering what "Stickies" are. Well, they are the best darn creation since sliced bread. They are like post-it notes for your computer, so instead of writing out lists everywhere (if you're oddly organized like me...), you can now make lists right on your desktop!

As Jennifer said: "I can't guarantee it isn't spy-ware, but the program is really fun to have and I haven't had any noticeable problems since downloading it!"

http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/download.html

Go download it, it takes but a minute!

Buddy, the cutest kitty in the world

Did everyone know that I have THE CUTEST kitty in the world?! Well, okay, he's not really mine...he's my parents. But he's the cutest and sweetest. Just look at him!!

He also likes to play hide and seek - he really peeks around the corner and then hides.

Who needs a man when you've got a kitty as precious as Buddy?!!

Timmy's got a blog!!!

Yes, it's true. Tim, aka Timmy, aka PiliPili (really hot and spicy in Swahili) has now got a - shall we say - 'real blog'.

He's linked to my blog - check him out! It may not be too exciting thus far, but my oh my I'm quite impressed at how quickly he set one up!!

This is quite a trend that Jennifer has started, eh? I mean, that Tim started...umm.... :)

Couples who match

Nope, I will never, and I repeat, NEVER, be one of "those" couples who dresses the same. Remember how embarrassing it used to be in school if you and a friend were wearing the same shirt, or near same outfit. You'd get harassed by other friends, people maybe would even accuse you of "liking" each other, God forbid. So when did it become cool to dress the same as your significant other?? Ugh, gag me with a sharp stick please!!

Yes, this was sparked because I did in fact see one of "those" kind of couples, wearing matching white vests. eew. And when I have an engagement picture done ....um...well someday I hope!! ....I will not, and I repeat, NOT, wear matching shirts, like denim shirts. We will make sure our colors don't clash, maybe even get color-coordinated, but the matching clothes are out.

Any single guys reading this who want to get with me? Ain't gonna happen if you want to wear the same clothes as me.

Sorry, I have high standards I guess.

the curious case of who REALLY showed Becky the blogging side of life

Interestingly enough, I've discovered that I actually learned about blogs from Tim. Jennifer, what do you make of this claim??? I believe we have a feud about to start because Tim claims that I quite possibly may be "giving you all the credit."

Now, in my opinion, the real question becomes, Do we believe the word of someone wearing this ridiculous cowboy hat? Hmmm....Now THAT'S a question to ponder!

Haiku Fun

In honor of Elizabeth's recent haiku posting, and also in honor of the many hours I spent in my car yesterday:

There are bad drivers
Taking over Chicago
I want them to LEAVE.

And now in honor of my current state of mind:

Work Work Work Work Work
Will I eat lunch, or will I:
Work Work Work Work Work

I'm in a much better mood than I may sound!!!! :) PEACE OUT!!!

Who knew Maryland was so cool???

Today, after a perfect morning of sleeping in, drinking chai lattes and visiting the National Cathedral with Jennifer, I spent a perfect afternoon traipsin' around Maryland with my new friend, Ray. We went to Annapolis and saw the state house, walked around the harbor and had ice cream. Then we went to Baltimore and walked around the harbor (Maryland, or "Merrylind" as they say, has lots of harbors I guess!), checked out the Orioles stadium, and ate pizza on the harbor.

A funny thing happened at the restaurant - 2 different waiters wanted to serve us and got in a big fight in front of us about who was going to do it. I asked them if they wanted us to leave....but they said how could we go wrong with 2 servers....hmmmm.

Now I'm chillin in Philly. Stay tuned for more!

My very first "blog"

Well, here I sit in the lovely basement apartment of Jennifer and Angeli in beautiful Washington, DC! This trip has proved to be very beneficial for my technological self - I now have "Stickies" on my laptop, I discovered that I don't always have to hold the mouse pad down to make the page move, AND I now have my very own blog! Jennifer is the coolest friend ever for showing me this fabulous side of life!

We visited Mount Vernon today, it was closer than Colonial Williamsburg :) The weather was lovely and we saw lots of real live dirty cows and sheep and turkeys. Since Jennifer has changed my life by helping me set up this blog, here's a picture of us at George's: