2013 In Review

Went to several friends weddings.

Completed my second Tough Mudder with my mom.

I got to play in bouncy castles with two Green Bay Packers.

Went deer hunting with my dad.

Completed 2 more semesters of Grad School with a current GPA of 3.62.

Worked on editing and writing my books. 

It was a pretty decent year. 

Here's to 2014!

Pre-Christmas Productivity! (2 recipes!)

I made Russian Tea Balls (cookies)! My grandma always had these on the cookie tray for Christmas and when she passed in 2010, I decided I would keep that tradition alive since it was one of my dads favorite cookies.

Russian Tea Ball Recipe:
1 cup butter softened, 1/2 cup powder sugar, 1t vanilla extract blend that together. Add 2 1/4 cups flour and 1/4t salt and blend. Stir in 3/4 cups chopped walnuts (the finer, the better). Form into 1" round balls and place on baking sheet. Bake at 400* F for 10 minutes. Roll in powder sugar right away. Once cool, roll in powder sugar again. Enjoy!

After cookies (and a round of dishes) we brought in the train set and set it up.

After lunch I made a Chocolate Cheesecake (my first ever cheesecake that I made solo)

Recipe: 1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs, 1/2 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts, 1/3 cup melted butter, 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese softened, 1 cup sugar, 12 squares (1 ounce each) bittersweet baking chocolate (melted and cooled), 3 eggs (lightly beaten), 1 cup sour cream, 1 1/2 t vanilla extract, 1/2 t almond extract, dash salt
Glaze: 4 squares (1 ounce each) bittersweet baking chocolate, 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 t vanilla extract
Combine chocolate wafer crumbs, hazelnuts and butter, press into the bottom of an ungreased 9-inch springform pan.
In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, and sugar until smooth. Add chocolate (If you don't have 12 ounces of bittersweet baking chocolate like I found out, you can use unsweetened baking chocolate and add 1/4 cup sugar for every 4 ounces unsweetened and it will turn out the same). Add eggs; beat on low until just combined. Add sour cream, extracts and salt; beat just until blended. pour over crust. place pan on baking sheet.
Bake at 350* for 60-65 minutes or until the center is almost set. Cool pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
For glaze, in heavy saucepan or microwave, melt chocolate with cream, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Remove sides of springform pan. Spread gaze over top. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with whipped cream and hazelnuts.

Instead of chocolate wafer crumbs, I killed these guys...I mean used these.

Fresh from the oven:

The finished product! (really rich and you will need a glass of milk to go with it)

Dear Gym Asshole

Yeah, that's right, I'm talking to you, the dude in the red sweatshirt today.

Background: I was at they gym doing squats with the barbell and looking at the mirror to make sure I go down all the way each time. During one of my first few sets, an asshole decides to use a barbell right in front of me (minded other barbells that weren't in front of me were open) and stays there doing squats of his own, really poorly might I add. Not only was he in front of me when he was doing his squats, but he did really annoying grunts and wasn't even lifting that much to justify grunting. 

The moral of the story is, don't be an asshole at the gym. It's simple. When someone is using the mirror and you have other options on where to stand, stand elsewhere! 

Breaking Stereotypes

Thursday I went to the gym and invited my friend, Mike, to come workout with me if he wanted, not expecting to see him but to see some lame excuse via text so I plugged in my iPod and got to work. Well, normally at the gym I do around a half hour of weights (and I'm not talking 5 pound weights) and then either bike or row. On my last weight machine of the day, I got up to wipe it off and see Mike behind me. Apparently I look very intimidating when I workout and scared him slightly. We went upstairs where the track and other cardio equipment is and I start rowing and he ran around. At the end of our cardio, I ask him if he wanted to do any weights to which he declined. 

Well the stereotype that I am leading to is weight lifting and the gym. On any given day at the gym, the majority of the people in the weight room are guys. Today there were only 3 other girls besides myself (most lifting the 5 pound weights I mentioned earlier). Also, on any given day at the gym, girls usually outnumber guys on cardio equipment. So I'm here to tell you that it is ok for girls to lift weights and it's ok for guys to go for a run or something cardio along with weights. 

Playing with the Pack

So I was working out at the gym in the morning like usual and after an hour work out (which felt amazing) I see in the big open area, where people are usually playing basketball, bouncy castle things being set up. So me being a curious Sonja goes in to check it out. I ask some dude with a clip board (because dudes with clip boards usually know what's going on) what it was all about. He told me that it was the Military Experience for the week long Veteran's Day celebration and was starting at 12 people could play in the bouncy castles, try on actual military gear and do a pull up challenge. Just as I was about to leave (because it wasn't 12 yet) he tells me "And then a couple of Packers are going to be here from 1-4 playing in them and meeting people and taking pictures if people want." 

I go home to eat something, cause I worked out pretty hard and was hungry and then head back to the gym around 2. A friend and I did a bouncy castle obstacle that was timed to see which team was the fastest (we weren't even close, but it was still fun). Then we got to go in the ball wrecker bouncy castle and swing a big ball around trying to knock each other off of podiums and finally there was a knock out bouncy castle. 

So I got to play with Ryan Taylor (left) and Marshall Newhouse (right) of the Green Bay Packers and got my picture taken with them.

One Week

No, not the song by Barenaked Ladies. But one week until NaNoWriMo (nanowrimo.org). In one week, or 7 days, or 168 hours or 10,080 minutes, thousands of people will be hyped up on coffee or tea, getting less sleep than they should, having no social lives (if they ever had one to begin with), and hoping that their imaginary friends will take them on a journey worth writing 50,000 words about.

Thankfully I have friends and family that I can ask random questions, where other people would judge my sanity. I have a notebook and word document that I can write in at any spare second of the day. I have my daily word count posted beside my desk. But most importantly, I have an idea. And if I may say, it is brilliant. I already have a strong outline from the help of one of my oldest friends, Ashley, and cannot wait to begin.

Whether you are ready or not, here it comes. And in the words of the Doctor:

"GERONIMO!!!"

Evaluate Your Life

Today is evaluate your life day. This day could be scary for some, but how else can you make sure that you are on the right track. My life right now boils down to several things: friends/family, writing/editing, school, training, and work (changing in order from day to day and hour to hour).

First of all, my family and friends are important to me. Once a week I like to drop my Oma an email telling her about anything exciting that happened or just how my week was. I grew up living next to my Oma and Opa and as a kid would always run next door after school and these little emails are still my way of running next door to them after school. Another one is my best friend, Laura. Although we haven't lived close to each other for several years, we still text and email about problems and our days and happy moments and have the occasional phone call that lasts at least an hour.

Second thing in my life is my writing and editing. I'm currently editing another book to be published with the help of friends and family, after having read it over several times myself. I'm also working on and planning another book that I'm going to write for this years NaNoWriMo. I love writing. It gives me a chance to be different people and to not be interrupted.

School is of course a big part of my life right now as I'm in grad school. To those that are currently in grad school or have been in grad school, you know what I'm talking about. Also with school I'm the Criminal Justice Student Association President where I get to talk to federal agents (yes, I have some awesome contacts in federal agencies) and arrange speakers and tours for the members.

Training is another big part of my life. I would say working out, but training sounds better for one, and training means that there is a goal that you want to accomplish at the end. For me, I'm training for my third Tough Mudder in 323 days.

Finally work. Last week I was promoted of sorts to House Management Supervisor. Basically meaning I get to do a little more work. 

All in all, I love my life even with all of my weird medical stuff that has been going on this year. Yes, sometimes it's a bit stressful and challenging, but if it's not challenging, is it really worth it?
So, evaluate your life today. If you find that you don't like a specific thing, then ask yourself why and don't be afraid to make some changes for the better.