kindergarten fun facts: week 5

What did you learn in school this week?

Kennedy: "I learned the word for blue in Spanish."
Me: "And what word is that?"
K: "I forgot."



¡Adios!
Leia

hurricane matthew

I have been seeing so many Hurricane Matthew McConaughey's! But in all seriousness I have been a nervous little wreck following this one on the news. I have friends and family along the East coast and when it's expected to be category 5 upon landfall you tend to question their well-being every hour on the hour. Needless to say they are handling it much better than me.

STAY SAFE!

Leia

westworld + other television

Currently there are four live shows that I am watching which I think is a first. Hallelurr for DVR and On Demand!

1. This Is Us. I had been waiting FOR MONTHS for this show to premiere and it finally has. Let me say major tear factor for each episode. If you haven't checked it out I highly recommend it.

2. American Horror Story. Chilling, chilling, chilling. Also sort of confusing.

3. How To Get Away With Murder. Just caught the first episode today On Demand. 

And saving the best for last..

4. Westworld. Premiered last night on HBO and I am HOOKED. So many things to discuss and ponder. The acting is tremendous. WATCH IT; John Wayne meets the Matrix?

Grab the popcorn!

Leia

school

If there's one thing that's stressing me out right now, it's definitely school. If any of you recall last semester I sort of threw in the towel with applying to Eastern's nursing program because I was falling below the competitive line and with how hard I worked there was no way I was going to apply to be told, "well you're a fucking loser, pedal your shit elsewhere."

So I had researched other programs like a crazy person a found the best alternative; the best alternative still required that I take yet another class. I was waitlisted for the computer course I needed for what I thought was a December application deadline to start Winter 2017. Well, firstly I missed the email that said, "yo, it's your turn to get off the waitlist" and I had to waitlist AGAIN and I did not get a second chance. Secondly, I must have looked at the dates wrong or they changed them but the deadline now is in January for Fall 2017. Fuuuuuuuuu. I am catching zero breaks. Thirdly, after starting my new job I'm not even sure I want or can be a nurse. Some of this stuff I see is horrid and stomach wrenching. And the key word here is SEE. I feel woozy just looking at some of these people let alone having the compassion to care for them!

Then it was time to scramble. Do I go for nursing and switch if I can't handle? Do I switch back for an easy Bachelor's? What about my pell grants and maxxed out loans? Slkfoieawjfoajbsdoviajseofinbaoisdrfjaosjf. I decided that I would enroll in classes to fulfill my Psychology/Health Administration degree. I still owed a bit of a balance to Eastern and before I could register I needed to pay it off. My dad and stepmom helped me with that and I was able to register. Once everything was all squared away I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Throwing away that year of hard work and classes that would literally be for nothing weighed VERY heavy on me. So.. I withdrew from them and got on track to apply for Nursing again. Well, then I felt the horrible debate again. And, I am going for straight Health Administration now. Ultimately I don't believe I am cut out for Nursing, nor am I passionate enough.

TRUEMU.

Leia

kindergarten fun facts: week 4

What did you learn in school this week?

Kennedy: "Make an S and close the gate!"

Focusing more on numbers I presume this week as she had other clever little rhyming tunes on how to master the art of number writing.

8

Leia

mid-week meal share: lapensee family lasagna

Boy, do I have a special treat for you today.

But, I hope you're prepared because this is the most time consuming and elbow-grease-needing recipe of all time.

Break out your pasta machine (yes, I thought it would have a technical name but no) because you're gonna make this dish from scratch..

LAPENSEE FAMILY LASAGNA!

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For those of you who thought I might have been serious I tip my hat and thank you. Not even a little bit serious. I thought the black and white added a nice old timey, passed down through generations recipe feel about it. I've had hardly any effort to put forward towards dinner lately especially on days that I work 3a-3p. Our evenings at home fly by and by the time I think about dinner it's much too late and we likely don't have any of the right ingredients. I actually had to PLAN a night for this frozen meal because of how long it takes to cook.. two entire hours.

Cooking instructions are going to differ based on your family recipe but all our family does is preheat the oven, open the lid and bed to form a tent, place on a cookie sheet and throw that baby in the oven. Cook for two hours and voila!

 A lot of time we take the easy way out and I literally have no shame in admitting it. Not half bad for frozen food either.



"Freshly made pasta."
Leia

chicago "tourist traps"

Another Chicago post because before heading home to Michigan after the bachelorette festivities, I spent the afternoon and evening with two of my best friends who just recently moved to Chicago. You better believe we did tourist stuff! I thought they would enjoy it more being new to the city rather than being a 'local' and visiting these busy places and becoming annoyed the the real tourists haha. Maybe my logic is off, but maybe I just had a really good time with my gal pals and don't care all that much.

I drove out of the city to their cute little suburbian neighborhood and from there we grubbed on some delicious local eats and then took the train back downtown.

The first thing we did was go to the "Sears Tower" Skydeck. I mean, officially it's Willis Tower but does anyone really call it that? And after the new owners changed the name.. understandable, but I also think petty.. how annoying do you think it was to have to define their building as Sears Tower since know one knew what the hell the Willis Tower was? Tickets to the top were $22 for general admission with no extra frills which I thought was pretty decent (especially compared to the $62 per person it would've cost to go to Medieval Times.. better planning for my next trip because it's been 16 years since I last dined like a Knight).

The biggest attraction here is The Ledge. SO COOL! 1,353 feet above Chicago with clear views of it all; hopefully if you visit it's not on a cloudy day. My biggest let down of this portion of the day was when we asked someone to take a group picture of us. Obviously no one can ever get the picture quite how you like it, but my anger also stems from the fact that I got great pictures of said person's group before it was our turn! GUH. But then I quickly got over because I was with the best of friends doing something cool.

Next up.. I'm sure you can guess. Millennium Park and a visit to the great and shiny BEAN! But before getting there we passed this interesting art installment. I don't recall seeing it before or even hearing about it. Giant waterfall fountains with moving faces that spit water? Yes, I TOTALLY see what the artist is representing.

Okay, back to the Bean and a Chicago style hotdog!

Aw, friends!

 Yeah, I know, without the onions and tomatoes my dog looked pretty bland and green compared to Chelsea and Caytee's. Yeap, that whole 5 year old taste palette striking back again. I don't care though, it was still delicious and I downed the whole thing!



Windy City out!
Leia