ever had one of those

I currently have the worst teacher I have ever had in my whole education "career". This is the third college I have attended and I have completed my BA so I have had my share of college teachers. This teacher will not answer students questions, help them with difficult questions on the study guide, let them leave class early without harassing them, cannot pronounce two words correctly in the same sentence, uses terrible grammar, constantly brags about how qualified she is because she taught in georgia public schools, yells at students when they raise their hands while she is talking, yells at students who are quietly whispering (not bothering people around them) because they are interrupting class, and is the most disorganized teacher I have ever had. Our mid term is tomorrow and part of me just doesn't care. I would almost rather take the class over again just so I can actually learn something than do well on the test tomorrow. It is too late to drop the class because it is a mini mester session. I simply cannot wait to tear this teacher apart when the evaluations come around at the end of next month. I hope to god they get rid of her, it is a waste of my money to have someone like this in the class room.

Leaves and Garden expansion

Did I just say "garden expansion"??
Why, Yes I did!!
I know you are thinking, "didn't they just plan out their garden and start digging?"
Yes, but that familiar itch to plant a good variety of veggi's in our garden hit both of us this week.
Amanda was tempted to buy cabbage and I was tempted a bit further and bought pumpkin, green pepper, and butternut squash seeds. The pumpkin, green pepper and squash seeds cannot be planted outdoors until it is slightly warmer so I have started them in their own indoor "greenhouse" where they will stay for a few weeks.
On another note, I came home today to find that seedlings grow very fast in just three days! Jake and I left for the weekend to go visit my parents and by the time we got back today my sprouts had grown three times the size they were when I left! As of now at least two of each plant has sprouted and many of them have leaves. These plants we are hoping will be ready to plant outside by friday. Here are the pictures of the new plants, can you believe this all happened three days since the last pictures and one week exactly since planting?!

we have sprouted

I woke up this morning disappointed that I did not have any new sprouts. I was at school and then at work until late tonight so I did not get home until almost 10pm and had no time to set the plants out for some sun today. I was feeling bad about this so I brought the plants upstairs to sit under our super hot floor lamp.(its one of those metal ones with three separate bulbs on adjustable things like a huge desk lamp) Well, there is a florescent bulb in one and then just plain bright white bulbs in the other ones. I thought that this would give it some good heat for today so I set them on the dresser and aimed the warm lights onto the plants. I took the lid off to allow them to get some air and what do you think?! New sprouts! The Carrots, Lima beans, Corn, Watermelon and Basil are all showing signs of sprouting. The only thing that shows no sprouts is the zucchini and tomatoes. I took a few pictures so you could see and hopefully be inspired to start your own seedlings!

Garden time!

Ah yes, it is that time of year again! For the past four years I have attempted to grow plants outside in containers which has not always worked that well. This year as I was shopping with my good friend Amanda we came to the conclusion that we should half the cost of supplies and grow a garden in her back yard! I cannot say how happy I am to have a friend that has volunteered her yard as a spot to garden! So, we headed to wal mart and picked up some jiffy mini greenhouses. They are plastic "greenhouses" that have sections in them to start your seeds. We purchased several seed packets each and have planted our seeds! So far this is what we have:

cucumbers
zucchini
tomatoes
watermelon
cantaloupe
corn
basil
oregano
carrots
spinach
strawberries
potatoes
and lima beans

Yes, it is quite a lot, but we picked so many different plants so we will have a good variety even if some of them do not work out. Tonight Amanda and I went out and dug shallow trenches about five feet long and two feet apart. We are going to mix the dirt from these trenches with fertilizer and make mounds for our plants to grow on. This should give us plenty of walking space between our plants when they start to grow. Our goal is to keep the garden as organic as possible and we are going to try not to use any miracle grow or pesticides. Our garden may end up with miracle grow and simply be pesticide free (esp. considering that we did not buy organic seeds) but we will see how it goes. The tomatoes we are growing in their own row against the fence so they can vine up against it and the corn has its own section on the back of Amandas property. Hopefully our plants will start to grow soon and we can transplant them to the garden the week of Easter sometime. I will take pictures once we have the soil mixed and placed in our nice trenches. Oh, did I mention that Amanda had tons of rocks just sitting around so we took them and painted the names of each plant on them? Now we have cute little rock tags for our garden rows!

The New Car

Yes!! We finally got a new car to replace the old 1990 pontiac!! We had considered getting a used car for cheaper than a new car, but decided that we enjoy the warranty we got with our new one and all of the features it has for our ipod. We were able to get both a military and recent graduate discount from Hyundai and brought home a black elantra touring. We had test drove the Touring about a week ago and then test drove the Nissan Versa. We almost bought the Versa, but after going back to Raleigh we found a Touring that was in our price range and we realized that we just liked it better! It is a hatchback style car with TONS of room, fold down seats, and a ton of features that come with the basic model. Our car is equipped with a popular package which just gives it roof rails and volume controls on the steering wheel. Since we want to have a family sooner than later, and we travel a lot currently with our 52 pound lab-mix the space is really great for us. The monthly payments are manageable and even our interest rate is reasonable! Over all it was a great car buying experience and Jake and I both love our new car!

recipe time

I know I tend to post a lot of recipes on my blog, but cooking is one of the things I love to do! Here is another recipe I made up spur of the moment for dinner, it is a chicken casserole.

1 package sliced mushrooms
1 small onion diced
2 large stalks celery diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 soup can full of skim milk
1 box low sodium all natural chicken broth (you won't use the whole box)
2 Cups peppridge farm seasoned stuffing
2-3 garlic cloves diced
3 tablespoons sour cream
salt, pepper, and sage(or poultry seasoning) to taste
1 1/2 cup rice cooked with 1 cup water and 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3-4 chicken breast, boneless skinless

Set rice on to cook (usually takes about 15-20min for rice to cook, follow directions on bag)
cut chicken into small cubes and place in pan to saute with dash of olive oil, Salt and pepper chicken as it cooks. Once chicken is cooked set it aside in a large mixing bowl
Once chicken is cooked place mushrooms, onions, garlic, and celery in pan and saute with a dash of salt and pepper until they start to get soft.
Once your vegi's are done your rice should be done cooking as well. Dump cooked rice, and vegi's into the mixing bowl with chicken. Add can of cream of chicken soup, then one can full of milk and one can 3/4 full of chicken broth. Mix well, then add salt pepper and poultry seasoning or sage to taste. Place in large glass casserole dish and bake in 350^ oven for 25 minutes, or until bubbly and thickened. At this point mix dry stuffing with two-three tablespoons of sour cream (it works really well if you mix it with your hands) Carefully spoon this evenly over hot casserole and place back in oven for 5minutes or until topping is hot. Remove from oven and enjoy!!

p.s.--You may also add sour cream to the chicken mixture before you bake it, or you may choose to add cheddar cheese to your casserole. Be creative!