Jun

30

Life stuff

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Thank you to all of you that wished me a happy birthday. I put my busted MacBook problems to the side and, after dropping it off the be looked at, ran around town vising my dad, picking up some clothes at our apartment, and heading back to my in-laws where we spent the entire weekend being lazy and watching movies. At the end of the day, I was happy with out it all turned out.

On another subject – It’s been mentioned that I’ve sounded a bit down and not myself on the blog. It’s pretty accurate in a way, and not so accurate in others.

Right now money is very very tight and nearly non-existent. Because of our identity theft from last month and our entire bank account being wiped out, we got behind on bills. Matthew’s dad did loan us money for rent and car insurance, but basically everything else is two months behind now.

Our internet and cable box were disconnected last week. Today my cell phone service was disconnected for late payment. Tomorrow our home phone will probably be cut off (right now Matthew is at work and my dad picked me up so I could have some company and use the internet at his house. Even with Matthew’s laptop we just can’t pick up any signal at the apartment).

I know I’m spoiled, but I still get bummed out by it all.

On the other hand, I know I have it pretty good. Bad things happen to everyone. Boo hoo. Get over it.

We still have our family, our friends, and our health, so I really shouldn’t complain. That’s part of the reason I haven’t been blogging as much. I don’t want to turn this into a bitch fest and sometimes I just don’t feel like writing happy funny things, so I choose not to write at all.

And while I’m not giddy with excitement 24/7, I’m not all sad and depressed either. I’ve been enjoying my time at home cooking, cleaning up my studio, working on ideas for projects, and up until Friday, editing an abundance of photos. I love being at home and I love that Matthew is happy about it too. He wants me to enjoy being able to have time to myself to do what I like before we starting having kids (which honestly I think will be a few more years).

I also have some fun news that I was going to write about but I think I might wait until next week. I think it’s pretty cool, and there’s something in it for my readers as well, so stay tuned for that :)

Jun

27

Good and Bad

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Bad News:
I’m using Matthew’s PC right now because last night, while surfing from facebook to craigslist, my MacBook froze. And then the hard drive crashed completely. The dreaded white screen with a flashing folder and a question mark in the middle. Every time it flashes I hear a little high-pitch computer voice in my head repeating “I dunno! I dunno! I dunno!”. I took a good 35 minutes to cry, call my mommy, and feel completely sorry for myself before moving on with life.

Pluses: I have an uncle extraordinaire who works magic with computers and I am taking my laptop to him tomorrow in hopes of salvaging all my hard work. I also have Apple Care in case he can’t repair it, and hopefully that will all go smoothly.

Negatives: If it is not salvageable, I will be without a computer for awhile as it gets shipped to Apple and, while I have all the original photos backed up, I will have to re-edit all my wedding photos from the shoot in late March, which were nearly complete.

Good News:
Today is my birthday. They get continually mellower and mellower with every year but Matthew and his Mom always make it special. I was surprised with a cake and some earrings last night from his mom while Matthews gift this year was to spend four whole days with me, and that’s really the best thing I could get.

And now, a brief glimpse at the past:

2005- 20th birthday. Went bead shopping in Sanford with my mom and picked out three pastries at the store – ALL for me :)

2006 – 21st birthday. A lot of drinking and laughing was involved.

2007 – 22nd birthday. Matthew took me to Busch Gardens! I have no access to those photos right now so this is me in my new birthday outfit from my mom the day before.

2008 – 23rd birthday. Matthew and I went to Kentucky and he was able to meet my grandparents before my grandfather passed away. I also don’t have those pictures available right now, so here’s me as an itty bitty baby.


Jun

26

Tacos El Rancho

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4433 Hoffner Ave, Orlando, FL

Food: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Attitude: 5/5
Cleanliness: 4/5

**Please ignore the lesser quality of these photos. I was toting my little Powershot that day as opposed to my lovely DSLR**

So, this place is a little (or a lot) out of the way, but after my last review I wanted to show someplace you can go for a REALLY great taco.

A couple weeks ago I tagged along with Greg and Gator to Tacos El Rancho, a small little shop in a plaza at Conway and Hoffner that is super clean and super friendly.

The menu is fresh and affordable and even offers up the unusual option of beef tongue for your tacos (I’ve heard it’s good). I tried a hard shell steak taco and soft shell fish taco (and the cashier and cook were both extremely patient as I made the crucially important decisions of hard taco vs soft and exactly which condiments I wanted).

The fish was cooked perfectly with some light seasoning, but it clashed a bit with the flavors of the salsa. And while the steak taco was my favorite had quality chunks of beef, it did have a tiny bit of gristle as well (though I’d take that any day over someplace like Taco Bell and their mystery meat).

Also, make sure to also try the guacamole, if simply for the perfectly oval plastic container it comes in that fits the ENTIRE tortilla chip for dipping! Oh, and it tastes excellent to boot.

This is Gator counting out his change for the candy machine. Banana runts for the win!

YUM!

So, even though this place is located nearly all the way at the airport, it’s definitely worth the trip for some REAL tacos at a great price.

Jun

24

Potato Salad

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Another easy summer side dish!

Last week I was looking online and I came across this recipe at Ciao Chow Linda. As soon as I saw the photo my mouth started watering and I knew I had to try this, despite never having liked potato salad in my life.

I think what’s turned me off in the past is the mayonnaise version of potato salad that is prominent in the south. I have never once in my life cooked with mayonnaise, I never buy it, I never look at it, I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole (ironically enough, I will eat it if someone else has prepared a dish with it, but I ignore this fact and continue to be adamant about my hate).

This version with olive oil and red wine vinegar is so much more appealing and light. Definitely a keeper.

6 red potatoes, boiled until fork tender, cooled, and cubed
(I didn’t have red so I used white potatoes)

1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
handful of minced parsley

Blend all of the above together with a fork or a whisk and mix into the potatoes. Fold in the parsley and chill before serving.

Jun

24

News flash: I can be a pompous ass.

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I’ve been feeling extremely uncreative and unproductive artistically.

My motivation and inspiration have been drowning in the bitter drain pipe of jealously while I’ve been creating a silent competition in my mind between myself and everyone of my artistic friends.

Why do I have to compare? Why do I have to put them down in my head to try and make myself feel better?

I’m making it a point this week to change my attitude and perspective. I WILL be happy for all of your success. I WILL build you up and not tear you down. I WILL live my life as it is meant to be and not compare it to yours. I WILL be productive and stop frittering away my energy on being contemptuous towards people I actually admire.

And that’s about it for right now.

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