a conglomeration of recent happenings

So I have effectively procrastinated studying for my stats test this Thursday. haha Wanna know how? By baking. I think I'm getting a knack for baking--especially when it satisfies my outrageous sweet tooth. And anything's better than stats, right?

In all honesty, I think I'll be okay for the test. I will definitely be hitting the books tomorrow. Promise, mom! I  promise, everyone else reading my silly little blog! 

Life's been pretty baller, not gonna lie. So much busy, all the time, with lots of homework and friends and classes and not a whole lot of husband time. :( Wah. Tonight he plans on pulling an all-nighter waiting for Boarderlands 2 to come out and then he'll play all night until dawn. That's my gamer. :] Well, here are some pictures and a recipe! I'm off to go do some procrastinating studying. Dinosaur bones...histograms...box plots...standard deviation...reading prompts. Ah, life never stop. :]

I found a wonderful friend planking on some blocks during WDA. Before planking, she was being a cat. Awesome.

We had Dramatic Lit outside last Friday. :]

Fossil!

An impromptu date night with a rushed hairstyle and makeup. We saw The Amazing Spiderman. So good.

I came home from classes on Friday to find a cake sitting on our table. Zac did not make said cake, rather, he bummed it off the bakery truck that comes to Wymount on Friday mornings with free day old bread and cakes! That's my money pincher in action.

I got all home-makery by filling some random floating canisters with said ingredients. I labeled them with my expert sticker hand. Aw yeah.

Best face ever. Hands down.

My tummy is so happy.

a family recipe (i love you grandma)

Sometimes, school starts and you love it. Sometimes, you get to work two shows in one semester and you're pumped. Sometimes, you get offered new theatre//acting opportunities after heartfelt prayers the night before wondering if you'll ever be a part of theatre again. ;] Sometimes, you get to workshop new plays and imagine what you can create. Sometimes, you finally get into the dinosaur class you've wanted for three years and laugh the whole period. Sometimes, you cry because the house is so messy and then clean it with tears on your cheeks. Sometimes, you wipe away the tears and make a dinner that is close to your heart. Sometimes, things just work out and you can smile.

This is a family recipe, one that my Grandmother passed down to my Mother who passed it down to me.

Ingredients

1 lb of ground beef

1 can of Cream of Mushroom

1/2-Whole Onion

Milk

Salt//Pepper

Garlic Powder

(Not in original, added by me!)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Mince onion as small as possible.

(Note--I didn't chop mine up so small. I wanted my onions chunky :])

Flavor ground beef with salt//pepper//garlic powder. Be generous!

Add in onion and roll into patties.

(1 in thick and about 3 in wide)

Heat up pan with a light coating of vegetable oil.

Cook patties until almost done.

Clean out pan once the patties are almost done.

Stir one can of Cream of Mushroom and half a can of milk together.

Dump the mixture into the clean pan.

Bake all of it (with a lid!) for half an hour in the oven.

Get ready for something so full of love, you can't speak.

I love you, Grandma.

lemon blueberry yogurt loaf.

I think I've found a new love for baking, now that Pinterest does most of the work for me. ;] haha I found this recipe on Pinterest back in February and I've wanted to tackle it ever since. Tonight, my best friend, Emily, and I set out to bake this Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Loaf for the first time. I am oh so tired, but so stinking proud of us! We did it! It looks beautiful and tastes amazing. If you have a free night before the summer ends, be sure to try this out. I love how my house smells right now--it's like we're in a lemon tree orchard or something. One of the best summer nights I've had in a while. Thank you so much, Emily, for all your help! :]

i like home

i a m p r o u d o f m y s e l f

 My summer job ended yesterday. 

Back in April, my calls averaged around 350+ seconds.

At the end of my stay with Devcon, my average dropped down to 264.

My fastest average for a day?

216 seconds.

:]

Bam that's how it's done.

See how happy I was yesterday? haha

I wanted to make each call count, so I didn't pay too much attention on keeping my average down. I focused on each customer, sales rep, and technician. One adorable old man asked me at the end of a call if I was a voice recording. I laughed and said I was indeed real. He laughed for a long time. Smiles all around. Also, Zac and I decided to compare our call stats of the day and relate them to pokemon stats. We divided the different calls into five categories (Credit Checks//HP, Welcome//Attack, Tech Set Up//Defense, Signals and QA//Special, Other//Speed). I TOTALLY WON. My HP and Attack doubled Zacs, but my defense was quite low. hahaha He's the greatest, right?

After work, Josh, Zac, and I went to In-N-Out for some celebrating.

Today, Zac went to work while I stayed home to get ready for his family coming to visit.

Here's how my day went:

Alarm went off at nine.

Woke up multiple times, got out of bed at 9:40.

Washed face, put on clothes, kissed Zac goodbye, went on errands with Emily and Tim.

Zac worked from 11am-7pm.

I came home from errands, napped, cleaned the house, did the laundry, vacuumed (thank you Bro//Sis Black!!) washed dishes, and almost finished the bathroom before Zac got home.

On my way to and fro the laundromat, I found a rather odd thing hiding behind some bushes.

AH.

Tonight, I made dinner using a recipe I found on pinterest. 

OH MY WORD.

Sometimes, I make delicious things.

And sometimes I can't help but being really proud of myself.

I like home.

homemade ice cream bowls :D

Remove balloons from bowls.

Dip the rims in water.

Roll in sprinkles.

haha

Ours came out a little funky.

:]

Found recipe here.

one year anniversary...pt 2

When you have your sweetheart...

You can be yourself.

You can laugh.

You can cry.

You can hug.

You can eat good food.

You can frolic.

You can watch Brave.

You can hold.

You can comfort.

You can be there for him//her.

I love my sweetheart.

He did all of this with me today.

Today we celebrated our first year of marriage.

We also had a huge emotional surprise--one I'll never forget.

You're in my prayers, Daddy.

SO MANY FRIENDS SO MANY HUGS

Gosh, today has been a great day! I ran into three friends I haven't seen in a long time: Emma (3 years), Alex (almost 2 years) and Tess (a week haha). Emma Tan was in my first ward here at BYU...gosh so long ago. :) Summer term 2009. When Emma and I saw each other in the jkb, we hugged so hard and then held hands/hugged while walking. hahah I never thought I'd be one of those girls who screams really loud when spotting a friend a ways away. hahhaa But I guess it's come to that. :) Alex Nichols was a missionary serving in Burlington, Kansas when I went home for summer break 2010 and has become a wonderful friend to my younger brother, Jim.  Alex served in Manhattan, Lawrence, Topeka, and our humble town, Burlington. :) I found out he came home 3 months and 3 days ago and is studying Exercise Science here at BYU, mega rad. Tess Richmond became a wonderful friend a year ago when we took the same Creative Writing class. Plans will be made to eat lunch at the moa soon, I'm sure. :) 

Overall, the past few days have ruled:

1) Zac and I made chicken fajita tacos with corn tortillas an hour ago...om nom nom

2)I cleaned the apartment--the whole thing--as soon as I got home from classes today.

3)I'm getting awesome grades back in all my classes.

4)I hardly have any hw due tomorrow or Friday! Hazzah!

5) My novel is coming along so nicely and I can't wait to write some more tonight.

6) Last night/this morning Zac and I read scriptures together before falling asleep. :)

7)I have a great idea for my next play writing assignment...It's gonna be cool.

8) Zac and I went on a date Saturday night. I drove in the crazy snow...in the dark. And I didn't kill us. Obviously. :)

I want you to laugh, right now. So watch this. Thank you.

Love,
Chelsea

Homemade chicken soup and mr/mrs birthday

Today has been quite amazing, if i do say so myself. I'm currently sitting on the love seat, curled up in the handmade quilt grandma made us for a wedding gift. I am so proud of myself, you guys. Wanna know why? I did the dishes first thing this morning (that's really awesome). I cleaned the kitchen and living/dining room. and we're in the process of laundry. Zac helped a whole bunch, of course! annnd. There's one more thing i'm really excited about:

I am making my first ever crock pot soup!

chicken, chicken broth, water, pepper, parsley, basil, garlic powder, garlic pepper, carrots, potatoes, and onion. noodles will be added in a bit. :] we have to wait another...5 or 6 hours, but I am beyond excited! The kitchen smells so good right now. :] I really hope my cooking is okay...i took some liberty with the instructions online...really a 1/4 cup of parsley?! The garlic powder and garlic pepper i added on my own (to offset the insane amount of parsley). om nom nom I like cooking every once in a while.

I also have some other exciting news!

Tomorrow (the 17th) is my birthday!

And then on Thursday (the 19th) is Zac's birthday!

We're gonna have a party hopefully on Wednesday night. :] Nothing too outrageous or anything...but we're pumped to share the night together with cake/Oreo pie and small gifts. We have yet to use our two $25 gift cards to Walmart, perfect for birthday celebrations!

Every year, Zac and I will celebrate our birthdays together on the 18th of January.

How's that for a flippin sweet family tradition?!

Well I'm off to get some hw done for tomorrow.

:]

study.break.

I've decided to start writing more by hand in my long forgotten journal.
It's been gaining dust on our bookshelf for a while now and it's so sad.
I wrote by hand the other night and it was sublime.
So I think from here on out, I'll post online with Good News//Not So Good News...and whatever else tickles my fancy?
Yeah, sounds good to me.
haha

//Good News\\
I got a $1140 scholarship from BYU!
I had quite the successful audition Monday night...no callback yet, but if I don't get it, no worries.
Zac and I got a free tv...Zac's been reunited with his video games and he's quite the happy dude.
I played Super Mario Kart for the first time in a decade Monday night and IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. Wow! My inner nerd came out and it was just fantastic.
I got a 90 on my 8 page lit paper.
Zac and I made homemade chicken alfredo last night! Super delicious.
Emily and Tim are getting married on SATURDAY! FREAKOUTHAPPYINTHEFACEEXPLOSION!

"I got a scholarship!"

I love you, Panda.

You wish you could do this, don't you? :]

//Not So Good News\\
My skin hates this Utah weather...acne and dry skin all over the place.
Stress to the max with finals.
I've eaten so much chocolate lately...it's kind of embarrassing.

Anywho, with finals all this week, I needed a break and found it through my Ludo Playlist on Pandora.
Oh, thank the Heavens.

First song:
"Look What You've Done" by Jet
This video scared the dickens out of me as a middle schooler...
I wasn't sure if I was brave enough to post it...but here we go!
*Holds breath*

I DID IT.

I need a pat on the back, methinks.

Second Song:
"Naked As We Came" by Iron & Wine
Odd, a very personal song from the past.
Whoa, you get a treat!

Third Song:

"Good Will Hunting By Myself" by Ludo

OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS.

Easily one of my favorite videos and songs of all time.

Ludo seriously is my favorite band.

Check them out and find out what true happiness is!

:]

Fourth Song:

"Blurry" by Puddle of Mud

Gosh, this playlist is just too good.

I love this song and all that it brings back from Memory Lane...Mmm

Last Song (I promise):

"Believe" by The Bravery

Om nom nom.

finals approaching and chocolate mousse torte om nom nom

Hey guys.
Oh, how I've missed you! You know how college is with finals approaching and all the mini-projects due right before finals week. :]
All week long I've been working on my third 10 minute play, "Zombies, Zombies, Zombies" (better title in the works, I promise). I just finished the first draft, which was due yesterday, and it went over really well with my classmates and George. I posted it on my other bloggity blog, you should go check it out! It's about an elderly couple turning into zombies! It's a dark romantic comedy. I've never written a comedy piece as long as this one before; mostly just one to two page scenes with quirky characters. But this is a 13 page (or so) fantastic hilarious read! Please go read it and feel free to leave a comment. :] I'm looking forward to seeing where this play goes.
My last day of classes was yesterday! HALLELUJAH! Now I just need to clear these three finals...

1. Fundamental Lit. Interpretation Final Paper- Due Monday, Dec 12.
2. Psych 111 Final- Tuesday, Dec 13.
3. Theatre History Final- Wednesday, Dec 14.

Compared to last semester, this will be a piece of cake...

AND SPEAKING OF CAKE.
Zac got up a little earlier than me today to go to the Wymount Office here and grab some day old bakery goodies. He picked us up some muffins (both the blueberry and bran variety) and A CHOCOLATE MOUSSE TORTE. Um, yeah. I'll go ahead and say it. My husband=Good. Chocolate mousse torte=Better. My husband AND  a chocolate mousse torte=THE FREAKING BEST COMBO THERE EVER WAS. hahahaha 

I just shaved my legs for the first time in...3 weeks? Ashamed? Not really.

I'm meeting up with my Hedda Gabler cast in a couple of hours for the first read through of the script! I need to be off book by next semester...which will be difficult, but I'm excited to get back in the swing of things with acting.

AND SPEAKING OF ACTING.
No proficiency audition for me this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah.
Wonderful.
I'm finally doing what I love doing at college: Writing plays.
Look out, world. Here I come. :]

Superhero capes, cuponk, and fried chicken.

Last night we had ourselves a rowdy game of Cuponk!
THAT'S SOBER BEER PONG, FOOLS.
You may think we're drinking alcohol, but not so.
:]
It was actually apple cider and egg nog.
So we're calling it APPLE CIDER EGG NOG PONG.
BAM.
(Try to say that 5 times fast)

We started out the game by each taking a turn wearing my superhero cape.

Victory.

From this point on, we had the winners of each card wear the superhero cape.
Then we found out the characters on the cards had special outfits on, too.
Which, oddly enough, I had those articles lying around the house.

Nooooo!

Tim laying down the law.

Rawr. I'm Chelsea.

Zac won!
So...

He had to wear the tutu, head band, and super hero cape!
Bahahaha.

This isn't too embarrassing, honey. I promise.
*Note- I never won a card. :[

[SCENE BREAK]
I tried very hard to make my grandmother's fried chicken recipe tonight.
My mother passed it down to me...
Just as I shall pass it down to my daughter.
*Wise gaze into the distance*

THIS. WAS. HARD.
Oh.Em.Gee. was it difficult.
But Zac helped me, thank goodness.

I see you, sugar stealer.

Dinner for two.

In the end, the dinner was quite delicious.
We just wanted more of it.
Wah wah wah!
First world problems.