Hurricane Issac

Over the last several days hurricane issac has ravaged much the deep southern parts of Louisiana. For me I find these events particularly heartbreaking since this is not an abstract event I know people that are effected and who could lose so much due to flooding. I have found myself searching all of the news outlets for information that could give me an accurate picture of what is going on. I realized that the weather channel was streaming all of their coverage live on the web. Needless to say I got little accomplished at work that day.

There were a few things that I found particularly amazing about this storm and the residence of Louisiana. I was floored by the everyday people that got in their own boats and pulled people out of their homes in the flood waters. These people should be honored by every single one of us, they are true heroes. Thank you for saving people you didn't even know. The second thing I was particularly proud of is how well the governor presented himself. He always seems calm and ready to tackle whatever is coming. I am a little sorry that I dont live in a state where I can vote for him. I watched his press conference and I loved that he have the information needed and didn't spend time talking about nothing. He told me what I wanted to know and exactly what was happening. Governor bobby you have the Hannah stamp of approval I am proud to say I have lived in your great state.

My family is fine and didn't get too much rain which was good. I was nervous they would flood with this storm. I have been praying for those that are flooded or that will flood, they are going to need so much grace in the face of this disaster.

Looking forward to throwing a hurricane or tropical storm party now that I live in the south. Gotta love a good reason to throw a party!!

Mini Lasagna Cups

Mini Lasagna Cups

The other day on Pinterest I saw this pin and it looked pretty good. I love lasagna, it is one of my favorite things to make once it gets cool. I am sure that once it gets cooler I will share my grandmothers recipe for lasagna, and if you try it you will love it. But this looked like a good quick way to make something yummy. Additionally, it looked like a good way to use up the last of the spaghetti sauce when there it too much left over.

I found that this was super easy to make you just plop the stuff into the cups and bake for about 20 minutes. Mine took a little longer but they may have been that everything was cold. I think when I make these again I will add a little less cheese on top and maybe mix some herbs into the cottage cheese. I am not a fan of ricotta cheese, I find it to be a little bit mushy for my personal taste. My mother has always used cottage cheese so I find that I actually enjoy it in my casseroles.

Super yummy

For dinner last night I had 4 of these so I will be having 2 of them for lunch here in a few minutes. This was a definite pinterest win so I will be making these again soon. I love that it took me about the same amount of time to put this together as it did for the oven to heat up so there wasn't too much prep for this yummy dinner. Feel free to try these they get the Hannah stamp of approval!

Craft Projects

Now that I am out of grad school I have been trying to figure out what to do with my time and one of the things that I would really like to make this fall is a game day dress for Aggie football. On Saturday I started trying to find all of the things that I wanted to use for my dress. The majority of the trips were spent without finding exactly what I was looking for. I was unable to find an aggie shirt that looked like what I had in mind for my design but I did find a plain grey shirt that will work for the top. I was looking for some maroon fabric with white polkadots, that was not to be found. I ended up with two different maroon fabrics for the skirts, one with dark flowers (very small) and the other has some light and darker maroons swirled together. At the waist band I found an adorable Aggie print, that is super cute.

This is the fabric for the first dress

The second dress will have the Aggie band and then the lower darker fabric

 I will admit that I spent a whole lot more money than I had anticipated, most of these fabrics were about 10 a yard and that was insane. I realized that I enjoy crafting and that this would be worth it. These may not be the cutest most amazing dresses ever but I am going to try and make them and then I will enjoy wearing them this season. I have high hopes for these dresses. I will be sure to update you as I go along. I am super excited about making these dresses.

I love crafting and I cannot wait to get these dresses ready for football season!!! Gig'em Aggies!

A few more photos

I took lots and lots of pics so that I could remember what I have and be able to shop for what I want to put into the apartment while I wait 8 weeks to move in.

A very large guest bathroom, I didn't mean to be in the pic but it happens. there is a cabinet above the toilet... that will be useful.

Second bedroom, this will be an office and craft room 

Master bedroom, I LOVE the huge window.

One of the things that I wanted was a bathroom in my bedroom, which I have and you might notice that the closet is through the bathroom.

Very large master closet, I am going to need more clothes! 

This is standing in the living room looking down the hall toward the bedroom. 

This apartment has a ton of windows which will be really nice and I think that the layout will be very conducive to just me and Lily living there. I like how large the master is and that it is a square room, I think rectangular rooms are a little hard to decorate. I am looking forward to finding lots of new furniture and I have already started thinking about what color pallet I want in the apartment.

I have a few awesome craft projects in mind for some of these spaces and I am looking forward to getting after it, I hope to not have to wait long for furniture once I move in... by the way if you want to be part of move in weekend let me know. Full disclosure this will require lots of work!

I am so excited about moving in... I think this is the best place for me to start in Dallas, I can't want to have tailgate parties at my house!

And the winner is...

I chose apartment 1!!!!!

When I went back to sign the paperwork I went back into the unit to make sure that I still loved the apartment and took lots and lots of pictures. I will spread the pics over today and tomorrows posts since I don't want to overwhelm my few followers. Sorry I ran out of time to post about this yesterday and Friday, it has been a good weekend. I was also so relieved to finally have a place I just went to bed early on Friday night. So onto the apartment...

The front door... cute little entryway

I like the open floor plan of this room, I love that I can have people over and be able to cook for them and still be a part of the action. Also the huge windows in this room will allow for lots of natural light which I will enjoy. I also like that this apartment has a backdoor not a sliding glass door, I hate those.

View from the front door, notice the awesome windows

The living room

Dining nook, the washer and dryer will be behind those folding doors

From the back door

 I really loved the outdoor space that is avalible from this apartment, it will be so nice to just head out the backdoor and into the green area for the dog. A small bonus is that there is a puppy poop reciprocal just to the right of this photo and my apartment will be a few doors down to the left. So that will be super close and probably very useful.

This is what you see when you open the back door, I think this view is what sold me

Patio, lots of space to enjoy an after dinner glass of wine

Since I love to cook something important in my search was a usable kitchen. This kitchen will require a little work on the front end to make it functional since there are no lower cabinets. I have been brainstorming a few ideas that I will share with you as things get a little closer. I will probably make a cabinet under the desk (the girl mentioned that some of these desks have a cabinet, I am hopeful for that). In addition I may get a buffet to put in the dining nook or living room for additional storage.

The kitchen, with lots of upper cabinets

The only lower cabinets... I am going to have to think of something

Cabinet above desk

Cute little desk, I will probably use this as a cabinet since I have a million pots and pans

 The next post will have a little more info about the rest of the apartment, but it seemed a little long for one post. I am sure that you have had enough photos for one day or reading. I am very excited about this place and I am looking forward to people being able to visit me!

The apartment decision

I have shared many of the different adventures that I have in my hunt for an apartment. This morning I went to look at two more apartment companies, these were recommended by the apartment locator. I will tell you about each place today and tomorrow I will let you know what I have decided about the apartment. Hint: I think I found an apartment.

Apartment 1:
-a 1st floor apartment
-2 bed 2 bath
-washer dryer connections
-a babbling brook with ducks, that the apartment looks over
-the kitchen is on the small side, there are no lower cabinets. Lots of upper cabinets. There is a full size pantry
-lots of windows
-walk in closets
-about 1100 square feet
-the kitchen opens up to the living room
-the patio opens up to a large grassy area for the dog with a walking trail
-reserved covered parking
-good flow through the apartment
-small desk in the apartment
-under budget

Apartment 2:
-2nd floor apartment

-2 bed 2 bath
-washer dryer connections
-a babbling brook with ducks
-long narrow porch that over looks a building and a pool
-the kitchen is on the medium to large side, lots of cabinets. There is a full size pantry
-lots of windows
-walk in closets
-about 1300 square feet
-wood burning fire place
-a separate laundry room
-amazing master closet
-faux stone entry way
-at the very top of my budget

You may notice lots of similarities between the two apartments, they overlook the same brook one on either side of the brook. I totally forgot to take pics, clearly I am still new to this blogging part of my life but I am still working on it. I am sure there are more things that I love about both places, this is going to be a hard decision but I am looking forward to finally settling into a home.

Come back tomorrow for the big reveal of the apartment... I know I am in so much suspense!

Pinterest Success

Sometimes on pinterest you see cute things and wonder is that really going to work out? The majority of the time the answer is no but sometimes you get lucky and find a small diamond in the rough. Over the last few days I have seen the pin of the heart shaped paperclips (I would have put the original site but I can't seem to find it, found it here). A few days ago I realized I needed to paper clip something and wondered if I could make a super cute heart shaped paperclip.

To be honest this was slightly more difficult than I had anticipated, I was a little unsure of how to go about making the heart shape. What they fail to mention in the post is where to bend the paperclip. I found that you bend the clip at the middle of the inner portion of the clip. 

Cute little heart on the top of my paper!

Horribly ugly back of the paper...

It took me a few minutes to get this totally correct but in many ways to makes me smile every time I see it running around on my desk. Since this is a rare pin that worked really well I thought I would share it, I know that you would love it as much as I do.

I thought I posted this yesterday... sorry. Looks like today will be a daily double.

No book?!?

Depending on how well you know me you know that I love to read. I enjoy just about any book and most of the time there is at least one book in my purse. When I travel it is hard to know how many books to bring, too few and I headed to the bookstore for more and too many means I carted them around for nothing.

After work today I met my grandfather for dinner. It is hard to predict traffic so I beat him to the restaurant by about 20 minutes. This was not a problem until I realized that I did not have a book in my purse. Nor did I have any science papers to read in my work bag. For a few moments I was totally lost and I was terrified that I was going to have to sit there with nothing to do. Luckily my friend called and we chatted for a few and I looked over some emails.

It is moments like these that remind me why I carry a book. You never know when you might have a few moments to yourself and I enjoy reading in those moments. I am currently working my way through a pile of books my aunt gave me. I just started a new Nora Roberts collection tonight. I hope it is good, sometimes her stuff is interesting.

Well I will remember to put a book in my bag tomorrow before I leave for work. Who knows another incident like this and a kindle or iPad could be an upcoming purchase. I'll let you know how the book turns out.

Is it unrealistic to want the best?

As I am looking for my apartment it seems that I keep finding something wrong with every place. It can be a big something as in a bad neighborhood. Or a small something like the closets. I wonder if some of this is that I don't want to have to move again soon I want to be able to put down some roots and love my place.

I find that I have much anxiety about this apartment. The locator is helping figure all of this out but mainly I jut want all of this to be over. I looked at another place today. It was really great and the main thing I didnt like was that there wasn't a neighborhood near the complex. It was tucked behind a shopping complex and some warehouses. It has definately made the list of possibilities but we shall see if it is the best. There are three more on this current list and I am hoping that one of them is the right one. I am praying that the lord brings me to the right apartment and that I just love it. I am also praying that he will meet al of my needs with this place. Trust is hard but I am working on it.

Looking forward to having a place to call my own.

Apartment Update

Last week I went to see two different apartment complexes, I am not going to say that it was a disaster but it wasn't good. I realized that I didn't really like either of them I was just looking at them because they were cheap. After that I went back to the ones that I thought I liked online and realized I was so tired of looking for myself that I was lost. In a rare moment of genius I went ahead and called a locator service, this was a great choice.

My locator in less than 5 hours sent me a list of apartments that looked promising, were in my price range, and had the things that I liked. She seemed to be able to determine what it is that I want before I really know what it is that I have to have. She is willing to make lots of phone calls and find out what is available before I get out to the place. I have been sorting through the list and weeding some of them out and then I will be able to tell her what I like and what I don't and maybe even get a few more options. I have high hopes that I will be able to find a place soon. I don't know if I will make my Aggie Kickoff goal but it will be close. I am ready to start having my friends come for a visit and start nesting.

I will keep you updated on this part of the search, I wish I had done this earlier but in some silly way this felt a whole lot like failure. I felt as if I was unable to find a place on my own and that it was a huge failure. I still feel that way a bit but it is reducing my stress and that is very important. Hopefully this will be a good process and I will keep you updated on my search as it progresses. 

Science is a cruel mistress

When I realized I wanted to be a scientist many years ago, I didn't really know what I was getting into. In school we learn about all of the amazing things that scientists have brought to us: DNA, antibiotics, light, electricity, and a million other everyday items. In very rare cases are the many scientific failures mentioned, the only case I can think of is when penicillin was discovered. If you remember the story, the scientist was trying for months to find an antibiotic and accidentally left his moldy orange near his experiments and realized that he had discovered something.

These cute stories are meant to make science interesting to young students and to make them seem neat. However, this is a lie. Science is hard and you spend more time failing and not getting anything to work than you do getting great results. No one eats their lunch in the lab and fortuitously gets better results because their food got into their experiment. If you eat in the lab here is what happens: safety gets ticked off, you could get ants, you could kill yourself from chemical exposure, or you could contaminate your experiment. So that is not how to set up an experiment.

I find myself realizing that grad school was not about learning anything particularly applicable to life it is about learning to fail with grace. I learned to take my failed experiments and evaluate them for flaws and then try again, here is the hardest part you then repeat that step about a million times until it works. There tends to come a point when you throw in the towel and say I am going to live to fight this fight again tomorrow... what happens right after you say that. You would be correct if you guessed a HUGE breakthrough. Now after this you have two choices bail or stay. Sometimes you bail because you just can't stand the sight of your science other times you know that if you leave whatever is working will not work tomorrow.

I have learned all of these lessons first hand already but it seems that I am doomed to relearn these lessons over and over throughout my post-doc. It is one thing to know that you could fail at something it is something else entirely to know that the odds are not in your favor and they are so far out of your favor that if it works on the first few tries most people (myself included) will not believe these results.

There is no toll you can pay in science to make things work better no method to guarantee your success in your experiments so much of what we do is a black box. I often refer to this a science voodoo, where yours will be different from everyone else and there will be no rhythm for what works.

I am tired of failing at science I just want something to work and for myself to believe it. If we are putting our hopes out there I would like for these experiments to give results that make a little sense. Sometimes I hate science, why didn't I just get an MRS degree?!?!? Probably because it would have made me crazy.

Blueberry Muffins

Yesterday I shared with you how I was tired of cereal for breakfast and I made some muffins. I am going to share the recipe with you today but I thought I would give a little insight into the insanity of making these muffins. I found this recipe on pinterest and sometimes I don't have luck with that but I figured that it would be a good risk to try this recipe, the original recipe can be found here.

I knew I didn't have enough time in the morning to make all of the muffins so I mixed the batter together without the blueberries the night before and put it in the fridge. The batter was a little on the brown side but I will address that a little later, I will give you a hint I added way too much cinnamon.

The inside of these muffins

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2-1/3 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
1-2 cups blueberries

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
In a 1 cup measuring cup, add the oil, then the egg, and add enough milk to total 1 cup.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together. At this point my batter was very very brown, not the typical white that you have for muffins.
At this point I tossed the batter into the fridge until morning.
Add the blueberries

All mixed up... looking yummy already

Plop into lined muffin tins, I got 12 muffins out of this.
Bake at 400 for 20-25 (if the batter is cold it will take the whole 25 minutes).

In the oven

Just out of the oven

Ready for me to eat

You may not be able to tell from the photos but I had a blonde moment when I made these. I have mentioned that the batter was a little on the dark side, it is probably because I added 2 tsp of cinnamon instead of the 1 tsp that was recommended. This has made my muffins just a tad on the bitter side but with a little butter they are much more edible.

I have been enjoying these muffins over the last two days and I will have them again tomorrow but I think next time I have a craving for not cereal I will make sure that I have read the recipe at least twice before I start stirring up the batter. I will be sure to share the next baking adventure with you so that you can enjoy it as much as I have.

No More Cereal

I am not sure how well you know me but if you are reading this then I would suspect that you know me to some extent. You might know that I really love a little variety in my breakfasts. In the recent weeks I have been eating an extraordinary amount of Frosted Flakes, which I do really enjoy. However, I am at the end of the amount of frosted flakes that I want to eat for a while.

In order to get a little variety in my breakfast I tend to bake a little something for a few days of reprieve, I have made banana bread or muffins, blueberry scones, pancakes, french toast and a million other things. I have shared my recipe for scones and I am really looking forward to making those again soon but for now I had to make something out of what I have in my cabinet. This week I decided to make blueberry muffins.

I really love the moments when a plan comes together, this morning I was able to make the muffins and get to work relatively on time. It was a really glorious morning and one of the last songs that I heard was Genie in a Bottle by Christina Aguilara. It was an amazing morning and it put my day off on the right foot. I had one of those rare days where things just went well and I loved it.

Super yummy muffins with lots of blueberries!

If you come back tomorrow I will tell you about my muffins and give you the recipe and you can see if you like them. I am pretty impressed with my pinterest find, these are pretty good muffins. I may have added too much cinnamon but that is a story for tomorrow.

Road Trips

On our way!!

About a week ago Lily and I took off on our very first weekend away from Dallas, we took off on Friday afternoon and headed down I-35 toward San Antonio. I know perhaps not the most exciting destination but the people there are the reason that I got on the road. I was on my way to see my college roomie, Stacee!

Lily looks pretty excited about this.

I took a few photos on the road and then realized that was a horrible idea mainly because I did not want to die on the way to hang out with my friends.

Only in Texas will you see an oil derek on the side of the road for a restaurant 

You may not recognize the sign, but I saw the Miller plant... smelled like St. Louis!

Lily tends to travel really really well. She mainly sits in the backseat looking at me and wondering how much longer. On our usual trips she sleeps in the back but this time she was curious about where we were off to. I am going to chalk that up to being a little nervous since we just moved down here and she is always nervous when we go anywhere these days.

Looking at me wondering if we are getting close

Our road trip was very uneventful and there wasn't a whole lot to look at on the way there but I was very excited about getting to see Stacee.

So excited to hang out with Stacee and family

I totally meant to take lots and lots of pics but I mainly just spent time with the gang. I wish I had more pics to share but I will say that I just love being close enough to get together with my friends from college. I am sure that many more weekend trips will be coming up and I am starting to try and figure out where I want to go to next. I am looking forward to being able to take trips with the dog, she is my favorite traveling companion these days.

Happy Mornings

So most mornings I roll out of bed and immediately start my day, when you have a dog there isn't a whole lot of gently waking up. What happens is, your dog patiently waits until you rustle around in the bed and then promptly sticks their cold nose in your face as if checking for vital signs. So I hop out of bed and we head outside for our morning potty break, on the way back to my bedroom I turn on the coffee and head to the shower. I am not really a whole person until I have made it through my first cup of coffee, who knows it might take more than one some mornings. While I get ready these are a few great shots of what Lily likes to do in the morning while I fix my hair and get dressed.

She lays her head on the blanket as a pillow...

She is just relaxing while I get ready

I find it very ironic that she demands that I jump out of the bed as soon as she is ready but is ready to go back to bed once we go out for a potty break. But when she looks this cute every morning I definitely have spent a few extra minutes giving her extra snuggles because who could resist her face I certainly can't most of the time, but I do love her even when she makes me get up on time because she has to pee.

Chicken and bean burritos

I love to eat, a lot. My love of eating means that I often get to cook for myself, again I like this but sometimes I don't want to eat an entire casserole or even all of the tacos. So I always love when I find, or create, a recipe that stands up to the freezer. I also love mexican food, so these burritos are fantastic. I thought I would share these with you. I have adapted several different recipes to make these so unfortunately I don't have a link to the original but I am sure if you have pin boards you have seen these.

Chicken and Bean Burritos

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded chicken
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup mexican cheese
1/2 cup of raw rice, cooked (about 1 cup when cooked)
Southwest Cooking Cream (Philladelphia Cream Cheese Brand)
Tortillas (I used the small ones, maybe 6 inches)

1: Shred the chicken, I used a roasted chicken from Target because I didn't feel like cooking. This would also be a great use for leftover chicken.
2: Toss the remaining ingredients together leaving the cooking cream for last.
3: Add the cooking cream until it is the consistency that you like, mine looked like this.

All mixed up, I like mine pretty creamy

4: Plop a few scoops in the middle of a tortilla

5: Roll up the tortilla and put it seam down on the cooking sheet, if you want the tortilla to be more pliable you can heat it up in the microwave for a few seconds 10-15.

6: Once they are all rolled up you have two choices, 400 for 15-20 minutes  OR you can freeze them. I turn mine once about 10 minutes into the cooking. If you freeze them cook for the full 20 minutes.

They will not be this brown after but they are done when the edges are brown

You might notice that these are really brown, I tried to cook them in a skillet. That was a major failure as they were super crispy on the outside and cold on the inside. I don't really recommend that unless everything is already hot and you just want to crisp up the outside.

I love the way all of the cheese melted together, so yummy.

I tend to eat mine with salsa and sour cream and most likely with a side of refried beans or something else. The frozen ones were really really good, these will definitely become a regular part of my cooking routine since you can freeze them and eat them on the nights when I am just too tired to make a full meal. Also feel free to add whatever else might be good, I have made them without the rice before and they were still very very good.

The olympics

Sorry I have been a little MIA recently it has been a little nuts around the house. This insinuates that there has been lots of activity in recent days but that would be a little misleading since the majority of my activity has been sitting on the couch watch the olympics and jumping up and down cheering team USA on to victory. I promise that my whit is coming back soon and hopefully there will be lots of good things to hear about my life soon. But for the time being I leave you this beautiful picture...

There are no words to describe this beauty... God Bless America

I really think we should go back to speedos for competitive swimming, I mean really I would love to watch even more swimming if this was the uniform of choice.

Go Team USA!!!!

A few life lessons

Over the last several weeks I have learned some key life lessons, things that make sense and I just don't know that I ever really thought of them. So I am going to share them with you, I am sure you already know this but I didn't know...

-When the coffee pot is totally full and you want to pour a cup without spilling, lift the lid with your thumb and all of the coffee goes into the cup and not on the counter. Who knew that was what the lid was for?!?!

-If you buy cheap bacon it is going to be gross, half burnt and half still chewy. I will only be buying Oscar Mayer bacon, it is sooo much better.

-Working from home takes more discipline that I have most days.

-If you love your job it doesn't really feel like work.

-If you smile while you are doing something that you don't enjoy, when the end comes you will find that you did enjoy yourself just a little.

-I feel like a baller every time I see my name in print.

-Apartment hunting is horrible

-When you live in the big city, everywhere you go you have to drive, at least 30 minutes.

-When you order fajitas for two, I tip the waiter extra if there are four tortillas in the container. I don't understand the desire to only send three... really this is for two people and now one person has to wait to have another. But if the waiter is on top of it then they add more tortillas.

Uptown Part Two

Yesterday I told you about what I wore to the bar and how I felt totally underdressed but today I thought I would share with you some of the beautiful things that I saw and in many ways really enjoyed seeing. I do very much enjoy hanging out with these people but it is always interesting to learn what makes a new group of friends tick.

-I kid you not it was like hearing the LMFAO song, SHOTS, all night long. I don't remember taking that many shots in a single night once I got out of college, I abstained from them that night because I had to drive. That and taking shots with strangers is asking for bad things to happen.

-I loved that the bar/club played awesome dance music that the majority of us danced to all night. I didn't not love the fact that I was super sweaty when we walked out but a glance in the mirror told me that I was not a total disaster.

-I met a girl, while waiting in line for a drink, that told me everyone made her feel old because she was 25 going on 35. In many ways I feel as if she and I could have been friends, but since you don't usually meet your soulmate in a bar you definitely don't meet your bff in the bar either. But she would have been fun. Also, she had one a super cute dress and an amazing necklace.

-I enjoyed watching this group of people get just ridiculous and realized they would all be suffering on Sunday and I was able to watch the olympics and go to work and really enjoy the whole day. I think that is why I didn't take shots, I wanted a Sunday.

-But my most favorite part of the night was the moment when the married couple got into a fight. I have witnessed this fight in the majority of my married friends when we go out: they both get drunk and the wife decides something needs to happen and the hubby ignores her because he is drunk. I enjoy this fight mainly because I too have had this fight (not married of course) and as I told the girl on Saturday night maybe the make up sex will be worth it. I just loved watching this all play out and being able to enjoy it for what it was, crazy.

I am sure there were many more great moments that I missed but at the same time it was nice to go out with new friends and see a new part of my home town. I am pretty sure that I do not want to live in that area and definitely not be close enough to walk to a bar, that is for college kids. I am looking forward to the next time that I get to see these new friends and hang out, who knows maybe I will take them up on their offer to join their softball team (yeah right I don't do sports but I do enjoy watching them occasionally).