It really happens. I kid you not.

Hi, hello, greetings! I should be showering right about now, but I figured I'd give myself a bit of time to get the blog back up to speed. 

While I haven't been as productive as I'd like to be in the blogging world, I have been moderately-very productive in the exercise world. I say moderately because there have been a couple days here and there where we haven't worked out, but the past 2 days I've had a for real excuse since I've been battling a cold that I think I picked up at the testing location for my Illinois teaching certification (no joke there were over 1,000 people all testing at the same time) or on my ride home on the Red Line. For those of you, which is honestly probably all of you, who are not from the Chicagoland area, the Red Line is the El that I consider to be the most germ-laden. Whenever I'm on it, I feel as though my skin looks something like this:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX5sJwqVymy_w9zXVQ48O7bKpdG9pDXhmaWSsNPwaepXDF0KlLgxhcIuyXdseZLscX3gsj1tw29wuB_sCuzQB3p8OvxafiuLPA5JNEgxDY2pJEPLshroyUQqAP8evwB6FQFlQWuutU-xmf/s1600/germs.jpg

And lo and behold, approximately 72 hours after riding the Red Line, the tell-tale signs of sickness set in. Curse you, filthy El.

For those of you paying attention, yes I did just cite the source where I found that picture. Our kids have been working on projects where they have been learning to cite their sources so I figured I'd practice what I've been preaching. 

I've got some super funny kid stories, mostly revolving around two of my favorite students. I know we're not exactly supposed to have favorites (it's not like there are rules against this type of thing) but you just can't help finding some kids more fun to interact with than others. 

In one of my math groups, I have just two third graders. Today I told them that they could earn five minutes of free time at the end of math if they had good behavior. They worked really hard to earn it and I decided to treat them with a game of Pictionary on the Smartboard. They absolutely love using the Smartboard, and to be honest, so do I. Even though it's just a fancy, electronic whiteboard of sorts, it's still really fun. To make the game fair, I told them both to just pick animals to draw. 

On the first boy's turn, he drew a three-legged animal with floppy ears and a bunny tail. It was a dog. On my first turn I drew a pretty awesome flamingo. It was totally obvious that it was a flamingo. When I was done drawing they both just stared at me blankly like, "Umm, what?" I wrote the word pink. No response. I started writing out the word "flamingo". Blank stares. I made the noises they make. Nothin. These boys truly had no idea what a flamingo was/is! So much for my super easy drawing!

When the second boy had his first turn, he started off drawing another animal with a long neck. At first I thought he was just copying my idea of the flamingo, but eventually his drawing turned into something like this:

Sadly, I couldn't take pictures of the student's actual drawing, but I assure you, this reproduction is spot on.

Any guesses?

Well, clearly it's a giraffe. With bird legs. Just two of them instead of four. 

I helped the other boy guess giraffe because he was absolutely stumped. He, in turn, created something along these lines:

Are you as befuddled as I was?! The correct answer is: a snake that has just eaten a deer.

"How morbid!", you might say to yourself. Well yes and no. Yes because who draws an animal that has another animal inside of it?! But no because this is actually a really good thing. And by that I mean it shows that I am effective as a teacher beeeecaaaauuuussseee, today during our language arts session, we read a story about snakes and how they live, including how they eat their prey. We then Googled pictures of snakes that had just eaten and we saw a picture of a very large snake that had consumed a small deer. It really happens. I kid you not. 

So while his Pictionary choice was not what I would have chosen, it was flattering to see that he really did pay attention to me during language arts. 

It's almost 10:00 and that's the time I told myself I'd post this and move on with my evening. I'll be back again soon. Perhaps this weekend if my sickness doesn't evolve into some crippling, debilitating disorder. Gah, I hope not. I'm subbing tomorrow! 

Happy almost Friday!

-A

I bit off more than I could chew

Dear 3.2 average readers,

I promise I have not abandoned my only recently renewed little blog. I admittedly think I bit off more than I could chew with the vow to blog every day. While it's definitely not impossible, it's also not the easiest thing to do and requires time management skills that I am still acquiring. From here on out, I will blog when I can and not feel bad or guilty for not finding the time to squeeze it in. 

I have three major events/happenings/goals on my plate right now that are taking up most of my days. They are, in chronological order: 

1. The Illinois Teacher Certification test that I'm taking this Saturday. For my teacher friends and others in the know, it's the equivalent of the CSET. Those of you who aren't of the teaching persuasion, it's basically a test of my knowledge of the subjects I'm responsible for teaching were I to have my own classroom. The California version of this test was split into three parts and I took all three on one day and passed so I am fairly confident I'll be able to do the same here. Thankfully this one doesn't begin until 1:30 in the afternoon so that in itself will be much less stressful than the CSET with its ungodly 7am reporting time. This test is one of two that I have to pass, along with the completion of a course on the exceptional learner, in order to clear my credential and obtain an "Initial" status instead of the "Preliminary" status I have on my Illinois Teaching Certificate now. 
2. The frequently aforementioned Soldier Field Run. Boyfriend and I have been alternating between running and P90x to help get ourselves in shape for the upcoming 10 mile run we signed ourselves up for. Today I ran for speed instead of distance and was able to complete one mile in 8:55 which is an absolutely HUGE accomplishment for me. I have a widget on my phone that is counting down the days until the race and it's a mere 46 days away. We've got a lot of work to do. 
3. And finally, "Apply for Jobs for Next School Year" season has officially begun. I spent two and a half hours working on one application on Friday. Eeesh. I also have a widget counting down until the last day of school. As of today we're at 56. In a perfect world, I'd secure a job for next year sometime in the next 56 days but the odds of that are slim, though I'm remaining optimistic. I'm determined to find a classroom to call my own :)

And now, my friends, I'm off to watch an episode of Dexter with my handsome Boyfriend and slobbery pup. I'll be back around soon :)

Fog!

I have decided that Saturdays will be a day where my post is specifically photo based. It makes it easy for me to have something to help me stay focused on and stay on topic since we all know how my story telling abilities are quite lacking and my sentences tend to wander...

Today we went to Boyfriend's grandparents' house to have a sushi making session. Our trip to H Mart yesterday stocked us up on all of the necessary sushi making supplies.

I for some reason didn't feel like taking pictures of the sushi making so I'm not going to completely go against what I just said about using a picture to help me stay on topic. I do have a picture from today, just not from the sushi. 

Fog!

I have never seen fog here in Chicago. I never thought that fog would be something I'd actually miss. And I guess I also didn't realize that it only happens for very specifically meteorological reasons and that not all locations in the world possess the qualities that are necessary to produce fog. Fog can be creepy, or magical, or calming, or cooling. Or lots of things. And I wish it happened more here. 

There's not really all that much to say about fog, so I think for your sake, dear 3.2 readers, I'll stop here. Check back next Saturday to see what kind of collage I make then! :P

Friday Letters, Episode 2

Welcome to my second installment of Friday letters. Let's get on with the show.

Dear Brother, 

Happy Birthday! I kind of can't believe you're 23. Seriously, I remember the day you were born. I know that sounds super cliché, but whatever. I wish I was there to celebrate with you. I think it's harder to spend birthdays apart than holidays even :/ I hope you have an awesome golden birthday, little sister!

Dear Jewell Animal Hospital, 

Thank you for being an absolutely amazing vet! The way that literally every employee had to come see/meet Brutus was hilarious and made him (and us) feel super special. Your facility is gorgeous and I was completely happy with the check-up Brutus had here today :) You make pet ownership even easier.

Dear H Mart, 

You're really fun to go to. Even though I sometimes feel out of place as one of the only non-Koreans there, your vast selection of everything Asian is great. My only complaint is that you sometimes cause me to spend more money here than I would like, because I apparently feel that we need one (or more) of everything you have to offer :P

Our cart about midway through our shopping spree.

Dear Boyfriend,

I'm super excited to have the next 7+ work-free days to spend with you. I know it's not exactly the Spring Break we had planned but I have a feeling we'll be super productive and happy nonetheless :D

Dear Self, 

Please be better about blogging on a more regular basis. For serious. Your lack of commitment to most things is highly unattractive. You can do better, so try. Kthx.

Because we're definitely not pinky-in-the-air-snobs

As of right now, Thursday is still theme-less. I'm working on that. In the future, perhaps it will become a day to talk about cooking or beer making or yogurt concocting or vegetable gardening or any of the other Martha Stewart-esque hobbies that Boyfriend and I partake in. But on this particular Thursday, I have no pictures. Just one story of one dinner adventure that would probably be much more entertaining with photographic documentation.

Last week, on my way home from work one day, Boyfriend declared that he had a hankering for a burger. While Boyfriend and I love to cook, we aren't people who necessarily get cravings for certain types of food very often. We also had never made burgers together before. It's weird that even though we've cohabitated for all this time, there are certain foods--seemingly simple, everyday type foods--that we haven't made. I like to think that's because Boyfriend and I have such refined (I say this with some jest because we're definitely not pinky-in-the-air-snobs) palettes that we frequently make dishes other than what I lovingly refer to as "White People Food".

** Side note, I totally Googled the correct spelling of "pinky" 'cause I couldn't figure out if it was a -y or -ie. Oh, the teacher in me :P **

Now don't get me wrong, white people food can be tasty on occasion and there are definitely times when I long for mashed potatoes and gravy, but we try to be more adventurous than to just fall back on the standard meatloaf, pork chops, pot roast, and the like. That's not to say I haven't made those American staples, but I can honestly say that I can count on two hands the number of times that Boyfriend and I have made those types of meals. Some of our favorites are Middle Eastern inspired things like this but with chicken, and this but again with chicken, and this exactly as it's written. That last one is definitely a staple around here. It's my default when I think of comfort food. 

Thankfully for me, I don't always have to be too creative in the kitchen because Boyfriend is an awesome cook and we take turns making dinner. We make an great little team because while one of us is cooking, the other preps all the ingredients and cleans up as we go along so that when dinner is ready, the kitchen is usually spic and span. The only thing that's still lacking from our nightly food adventures is a dining room table. Who would have known that I actually miss eating at a dining room table. Growing up, we never ate dinner in front of the tv and now it's all Boyfriend and I do because, let's face it, a dining room table isn't exactly a must have right now. It's not at the top of our priority list.

The whole point of this post when I first started it was to share a recipe that Boyfriend and I used to make some pretty delicious veggie burgers. So in an attempt to get on with my story, I'll skip to that part now. I know it would have been better with pictures, but I didn't think to take any at the time. Next time I do this type of post, I'll make it more visually appealing :P

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces (I used red because it's what I had on hand)
• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges (I finely diced mine because I don't like biting in to big chunks of onion)
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon chili powder (I used chipotle chili powder to give it a different flavor. Delish!)
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce (One whopping squirt of Sriracha because it's ridiculously popular in our house)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko because I we Boyfriend is Asian and it's a staple in our pantry)

Directions

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet. (The foil is super helpful 'cause it keeps the patties from falling apart!)
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties. (I only got three out of my mixture since I had really big buns to use :P)
6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 198 | Total Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 53mg

Source: Allrecipes.com

I even froze a patty to have as a back-up lunch item to take to work :)


And I'm ending this here 'cause my formatting got weird. Haha. Kbai.