Nutella = Delicious

How's that for adorable? 

I've never been a fan of chocolate. Ever. *Cue dramatic background music* It's usually the bare minimum when it comes to this sweet treat. However, chocolate with hazelnut is an entirely different story! Have I mentioned how much I enjoy this chocolate spread? I think I have, but just in case you don't know already, I have an extreme fondness for the delectable delight. If you're interested in stirring up some of your very own nutella, click here for an excellent recipe! 

In other news, I spoke at a junior high youth group last night, and had a blasty blast! (Why yes, I did just use 'blasty blast' in a blog post. It's an expression I use when I have a blast. A blasty blast.) 


Also, I had a math test today - just a chapter test is all, but it felt like a final. Know why? Because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Everything I didn't study was on the test. Go figure. But I wore a couple sweatshirts, a cozy scarf, the most luxurious skinny jeans ever, and warm slippers. It was wonderful. Now I just have to wait for the real final...next week sometime.

AND, one more thing! The answer to the joke in the last post! I couldn't comment because my comment box is giving me the lip. Here's the answer: Because he saw the salad 'dressing'. 

I Promised a Joke!

...so here it is: 

Why was the tomato blushing? 

Wait for it...I'll post the answer after you guess. NO CHEATING, okay guys? 

This is some serious business. Which means ixnay on the ooglinggay.  

(That's pig latin, just in case you're not fluent in said form of communication).

It's alright though, because I'm here to translate.

Anyways, guess what you guys? It's official. 

...I am a terrible cook.

As you may already know, my concoctions hardly ever come out normal. 

What does that even mean? Normal. HA.

I tried to make some healthy banana pancakes with whole wheat flour today. 

You know what? 

More batter was outside the bowl than in it. And...is it suppose to be chunky? I think not.

But I'll have you know that I will not give up. 

I will make something scrumptious, and it will be palatable.

THIS is my next attempt, hopefully success will reign victorious.

...because this recipe is actually American.

...and it's not from my memory either.

Alright, now start thinking real hard and get guessing on that joke!         

I heard a joke today. Too bad I can't remember it, otherwise I would tell you.

Does that make me terrible?

... withholding a good joke from you? 

I'm sorry, I'll tell you a good one tomorrow when I'm actually awake.

Promise! 

Loose Scarves Remind Me of Laid-Back Updos

Yet that title has almost nothing to do with this post. 

Jeans & belt: Forever21. Top: JC Penney. Cardigan: Kohls. Scarf: Wet Seal.

562 undead emails. Oh dear. This overwhelmed me for a moment, but thankfully it was from an old email address. After skimming through briskly, I left the page and decided to focus my attention on other matters. One of these 'other matters' I speak of is attempting to do homework. But seriously, Mr. Math, why oh why must you torture me so? My teacher mentioned in class the other day that we actually wouldn't use the majority of topics we're learning right now in real life unless we become math majors (how's THAT for a run on sentence?). I honestly have no intention of that. Ever. So I've come to the conclusion (actually, not a new discovery) that math has absolutely no benevolence to my life at all. And if for whatever reason, I need to figure out a concept in life that uses math...I'll resort to google.

Vêtements et plus

Oh hey look, it's raining. How unusual. (Not.) I love long sleeved garments, especially when they're 100% cozy and made in Bangladesh. Too bad I didn't actually purchase it in the country itself. Nonetheless, it was a thrifty steal for 4 bucks at value village. That's my kind of deal!

This is the second outfit post, first one can be found here.

Alright, many of you may know of Sydney, and are already aware of her 'Awkward and Awesome Thursday' posts. To be completely honest, I haven't done it yet, mainly because my thursdays are generally pretty blah. SO, here's a bit of a spin-off of what she presents on her blog, only it's Strange and Stupendous instead. Here we go, 3, 2, 1, ...blast off! 

Strange:

- Math class. What do you get when you cross a ‘Katie’ and a major lack of sleep? Tears of joy, tons of giggles, and even the teacher asking if everything was alright.

- Speaking of tears, one of my friends who I haven’t seen in over a year was standing outside the classroom door and just so happened to look in right as I was balling my eyes out (from laughter). Niagara falls, I tell you.

- Going in the gas station to pay for gas, and then just standing there awkwardly semi-spacing out after I hand the cashier my moola. “…alright, you have a nice day.” Wha? Is she talking to me? Oh. Right. Gas.

-  Screeching to a halt as I almost passed the library, and then doing an extremely bizarre u-turn in the middle of the street. It was obvious from their facial expressions that the people who drive around me love me. 

- Thinking it was a marvelous idea to back into my driveway to avoid mud. Stepping out of the car with confidence of my excellent parking job…and then realizing my TOMS got themselves into an even bigger mass of mud than there would have been on the other side. Lovely.

- Attempting to unlock the front door of my house with a car key. My dog gave me the most pathetic sympathy look ever. 

Stupendous:

- Jamming out in the car to ABBA, specifically this song, with my dear friend Aubrie. Nothing like a good flashback to the mid 70's, early 80's. (...I actually wasn't alive in either of those decades).

-All the books I needed for one of my class projects came in to the library today! Three cheers for ordering early!

- Wondering what I was going to eat for lunch, and then finding the most delicious home-made granola EVER in the pantry (and vanilla yogurt in the fridge). Brekkie for lunch, could there be anything more clever? Actually, yes, there could be..like eating dinner for breakfast, perhaps?

- It’s actually snowing at the pass! Which means no more canceling trips due to rain. YESSS. Shredding it up with the board tomorrow, friends! 

- Jesus. Just…stupendous in general.
-My little (yet bigger) bro teaching me how to waltz in the kitchen this evening. He told me I should join his waltzing class on Tuesday nights. Precious.

Keep an eye peeled, I may add more to this later this evening, the day's not even over yet. 

(Have any of you ever thought of how disgusting that phrase sounds? Keep an eye peeled, not an orange, not both eyes, just one. Is that American? I bet it's American.)

A wish of mine...

...is to own a bike like THIS one someday! 

Vintage Bicycles by Papillionaire

Oh glory. If only, if only.  I first fell head over heels with these bikes when I visited Amsterdam, where there was an over-abundance of magnificent pedals and wheels. I was thrilled to capture this beauty while the owner was in a local shop:

This was taken in Holland, near a town my friend lives in. She was an exchange student that came here last year, and when she saw this hanging up in my bedroom, a double take was needed - she thought it was hers! Maybe someday when I move to Europe and eat french bread and croissants everyday, THEN ... I will be able to justify the purchase. Until then, I'll continue to dream whilst devouring my 'not-even-half-as-delightful' croissants and nutella (which, by the way, is the most brilliant idea ever. Hazel + spreadable chocolate? Win, win, win situation). 

What is it that makes texture so wonderful? Whether it's found in clothing, or sought out in a photograph, texture is one of many subjects that piques my curiosity level up past 100.

(These are images taken from yesterday's post.)

ALSO, hellooo big gorgeous hunk of moon that hits my eye like a big piece of pie (...that's amore)! Have any of you had the opportunity to sneak a peek at the radiant moon this evening? I was out shooting it earlier, but only semi-liked one shot, and guess what? It's not even of the moon! Although this is clearly not the most sharp image, I oddly enjoy the aura it emits. 

Poet

Heyyo! So I was working on a powerpoint last week of the brilliant mastermind, Shel Silverstein. One of my favorite childhood poets, I still have several of his books. Today I was inspired by the poem, Lazy Jane, which can be found in his text Where the Sidewalk Ends. As you can see, I copied his format and choose to make my own! Unfortunately, Jane's mouth is much bigger, and I'm guessing she'll be the one to swallow more than I do when the rain comes. Mm, I love dehydration. (But then again, I'm not a cartoon character, so I have the ability to pour myself a cup of real life watah. I'm off to do that...right.now.)   

The Big 'T'

Is it possible to put trust in something unseen? Absolutely. 

My question is, why don't we do it more? 

Curiosity was spurred this evening as I reflected how God has been working in my life lately. 

One situation in particular, dealing with school. 

A transcript, to be exact. A silly piece of paper with grades!

What makes us human beings so incapable of trusting? It shouldn't be difficult, based off all the examples given in the Bible, what is it that keeps us from trusting God with our everything? 

It's been shown again and again that he always comes through. No matter what the situation. 

I'm so thankful to rely on something greater than myself. 

Because trusting the Creator gets easier as it's done more frequently. 

   

Hasta la vista!

Hey! I've been challenged! So yes, it is in the early hours of the morning. 1:30ish am to be more precise. But as I mentioned in a previous post, I've found a lot of blogs that I really love. So much love for these blogs that I am currently investing far too much time in them when I should be doing other things (homework, cleaning, applying for college scholarships, and spending time with Jesus are to name a few). In fact, Jesus is the one who challenged me to take a week away from the blog world entirely! You know that quote from James Weldon Johnson? Um, no. He probably had lots of wise things to say, but I ran across this phrase several weeks ago: "Young [wo]man, your arms are too short to box with God." (I put the brackets in because I'm obviously not a man, but I do know how to box with God, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that it never works.) Anyways, I'm taking up the challenge, because I remember what my life was without the blog world. And you know what? It was lovely. So I'm going to embrace it and enjoy it, after all, it's only a week - can't be that difficult, right? Have a splendid week!

Two words: Jaw drop.

"There is no way I'm going to watch a seven minute, forty-three second video about a chump and his bike." Holy cow. You might want to rethink that thought, friends. This man is no chump, and the filming is impeccable! If you choose to watch it, believe me, you will be speechless.
...I'm glad he wears a helmet.

Heyhey, it's an outfit!

Hat and top: Forever21. Belt: little brother's baseball uniform. Shorts: Express. Tights: Kohls. Shoes: Thrifted.

So I've never really been into fashion blogs before, but I do love expressing my own style (cheesy, right?). Recently I have discovered some a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e. blogs, and have fallen in love with their posts. So I've decided to do the same...for today anyway (post an outfit, that is). Maybe I'll do it more, who knows? This is what I wore today, and let me tell YOU, it is comfier than sweats. Almost. Anyways, I've been missing summer (and the glorious heat) quite a bit lately, and have been dying to wear some shorts. Although I wore the shorts, I couldn't do much to convince Mr. Sun to make an appearance. Nevertheless, I kept my shades with me in hopes that he'd greet us at some interval of the day (that didn't happen..).  

...P.S. How about we all ignore that expression? Either that, or you should try to match it. There were some construction workers down the road watching us shoot, and it was a little bit awkward. 

Food Mishaps

Hiya! How has your day been today? Rather, how have your meals been today? I hope they were better than mine. For lunch, I was determined to make a delectable vegetable stir fry. Yum. After purchasing the ingredients (absurd prices, might I add. Let's just all grow our own gardens), I was excited to get down to business and cook up a real delight. In Asia, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil are generally used, but they must make the liquids differently here in the U.S. of A., because I have never been in a room with such a stench. Seriously. I don't think it's even possible, or plausible, to describe the nauseating odor that was presented in my kitchen this afternoon. After complete failure (and to my dismay), the majority was thrown out. The vegetable art was, by no means, appealing in any way, shape, or form. I sighed a deep sigh and took out another pan. Second time is always a little better, right? Right. Only for this round, I decided to steer clear of any re-creations. (I know from past concoctions that it takes more than two tries to get a recipe perfect). Besides, my stomach was going to be the death of me if I didn't come up with plan B (okay, slight exaggeration). Luckily, plan B didn't take long to come up with. I decided to invent an entirely new sandwich. Now I know what you're thinking, "Katie, it's probably already been invented...your's is nothing special." Okay you know-it-all, go ahead and rain on my parade.  It just so happened that several ingredients I spotted in the refrigerator seemed to suit my fancy...and my appetite. Do you remember my Food Combinations post? Well, this sandwich brings the matter to a whole new level. The only difference is that it doesn't sound half as disgusting as some of the other food choices. I'd like to call it, "The Katie Deluxe 6000." Every time the sandwich is referred to as this name, a little musical *ding* will go off in the distance, and a jazzy voice will follow by singing this slogan: "When times get rough, the sandwich isn't so tough, test the Katie Deluxe 6000, yeahh." At this point, you're probably curious as to what this deal included. Here's the list: Toasted whole wheat bread, thinly sliced roast beef, fresh avocado slices, spinach leaves, 1 egg omelet with parmesan cheese melted beautifully in the middle, and chives sprinkled over the egg. That's it. Heaven presented in food form! If you so choose to make this at your own risk, beware, the *ding* tends to be a bit obnoxious if you're not prepared. Happy cooking, friends!

Why can't our grocery stores look like this? Overflowing with fruits, vegetables, and color - all marketed at outstanding prices? I bought a pineapple the other day, guess how much it was? FOUR stinkin' dollars! As opposed to 15 cents in the Philippines. Goodness, I miss it.  

 found here.

Um, hello? Story of my life. 

It's the beginning of the week, shoot.

You ever have those days? The days where you get up and wish you just stayed in bed? Yeah. I had one of those today. It doesn't happen often, but today was just plain cumbersome. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it immensely, because I am grateful that I can laugh about it. Here's how Awkward (with a capital 'A') went down:

1) I got up this morning and realized that it was the first day of school. This may not seem like a big deal, but oh no, it is. I hadn't bought my books for the quarter yet. Wonderful. THUS, a trip into the college bookstore was needed before I could make it to my morning class at the high school.
2) Parking. A horror when it comes to the first day back. I literally scanned every. single. aisle. in all seven parking lots. I ended up parking about 72 miles away (I hope you can handle sarcasm).
3) We wont even talk about how packed the bookstore was! It was like shuffling in a sardine can!
4) Accidentally honking at the car in front of me at a red light. Hm, is that why they were going ridiculously above the speed limit after the light changed green?
5) Arriving to class 30 minutes late. Good thing my teacher loves me.
6) Singing over-enthusiastically on the highway, and then realizing the person tailgating is actually a past classmate...

Despite the maladroit (yes, I went there, I used a word you have to look up) string of events this morning, the rest of the day has been pleasant. I was looking at photos I had taken a few weeks ago, and this one reminded me of a story my sister told me. Did you know seagulls can explode? If people keep feeding bread, the seagulls will drink more water, and never know when to stop eating! Thus resulting in an eruption of the stomach, and an awful lot of feathers to clean up. The ones at Ivars certainly look as if they could go on a diet. Does that seagull look abnormally burly to you too?

Farewell 2010, it's been lovely

Let’s talk ‘New Years’ – the whole shebang! It was a blast. The fireworks, that is. The power blew out on New Years Eve around 8:00 at my house, so I decided to go into Seattle with my sister and one of her friends. We didn’t plan staying ‘till the stroke of midnight, simply because the traffic would be horrid, and the drunkies would be out. There was no agenda, but the main goal was to find a hotel and get to the roof to gawk at the city life. SO, we parked off the side of a street downtown, but only had 58 cents for the parking meter. Go figure. No worries though, because we figured the police would be minding other business for such a night as this. Anyways, once the car was parked, we got out and realized the keys weren’t with us. They also were not in the car. Two strapping young gents (who were not drunk, might I add) approached us and began talking to the lovely ladies I was with. I let out a pathetic sigh, shook my head, angled my forearm against the car, and dramatically slouched as they asked what our itinerary was for the night, “oh shoot. The girls are going to hate me for coming now,” I thought to myself. Long story short, the gentlemen did not stay long, we came to the conclusion that it was because I was there, HAHA. Did I scare off these young men merely by my presence? I’d say that’s an accomplishment, never before have I felt such power (I’m kidding.  ...Maybe). In any case, I’ll spare you the details and inform you that we did not end up on a roof. Sorry to cast disappointment your way (you weren’t excited? Dang, I need to juice up my stories). We came close, (oh, so close!), but ran into one too many security officers and locked doors. The night was certainly a success though, or quite the amusement to say the least! Happy New Year everybody! I hope you keep your resolutions better than I do!

In all honesty, I didn't want my camera to be snatched. So I settled for bokeh images from the comfort of the car.